The first Lockheed Martin F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing stealth fighter takes off (conventionally) from Lockheed Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas.

The first aircraft in history to combine stealth with short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) capability and supersonic speed has been delivered to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., where it will conduct its first hovers and vertical landings.

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II STOVL stealth fighter will replace U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B STOVL fighters, F/A-18 strike fighters and EA-6B electronic attack aircraft, and will also be used by the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy and the Italian Air Force and Navy.

There are three different models of the F-35. The F-35A is the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant is the smallest and lightest F-35 version and is the only variant equipped with an internal cannon, the GAU-22/A.

It is intended for the US Air Force (USAF) and other air forces, but is primarily intended to replace the USAF’s F-16 Fighting Falcon, beginning in 2013, and to replace the A-10 Thunderbolt II starting in 2028.

The F-35C is the carrier variant of the craft that will feature larger control surfaces for improved low-speed control, and stronger landing gear and hook for the stresses of carrier landings. It will also feature a larger, folding wing that allows for decreased landing speed, increased range and payload, with twice the range on internal fuel compared with the F/A-18C Hornet. It will be used solely by the US Navy and is expected to be available beginning in 2014.