F-35 (AF-1) hits Mach 1.53 at 39,000 ft.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=6792072&c=FEA&s=CVS
Within the past month, they have moved from a top speed of Mach 1.3 to Mach 1.53 at 39,000 feet. Soon, the pilots hope to hit the aircraft’s maximum speed of 700 knots.
The F-35 has been tested at the speeds and altitudes required for the Eglin training course, but the airframe needs more flight hours on it, Griffiths said. Normally, an aircraft needs to have 2,025 hours in the air before the Air Force orders production to start, but the F-35 has accumulated only 1,332 as of June 6, he said.
Hinting at supercruise
Griffiths declined to compare the F-35 to the F-16s he once flew. But he noted the F-16 is only technically an 800-knot and Mach 2.02 aircraft. In practical terms, most pilots will never see speeds above 700 knots or Mach 1.6 because real-world load-outs don’t allow it.
The F-35 can’t supercruise like the F-22 Raptor, but the test pilots have found that once they break the sound barrier, supersonic speeds are easy to sustain.
“What we can do in our airplane is get above the Mach with afterburner, and once you get it going … you can definitely pull the throttle back quite a bit and still maintain supersonic, so technically you’re pretty much at very, very min[imum] afterburner while you’re cruising,” Griffiths said. “So it really does have very good acceleration capabilities up in the air.”
Pushing beyond Mach 1.6
Though the F-35’s maximum speed is Mach 1.6, the F-35 test program will eventually push the jet a little beyond that limit to make sure operational pilots have a margin of safety, Griffiths said.
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