Lockheed Martin/Chad Bellay
Releasing Flares: An F-35A releases infrared countermeasure flares during test flights near Edwards AFB.
In November, the plane tested its onboard cannon aerially for the first time. This came months after the plane first successfully fired its cannon in June.
Successes such as these led the Marine Corps to declare, in July, that the F-35B was ready for combat.
And internationally, the F-35 continued to be a focus on attention. As Canada was mulling over whether to pull out of the F-35 program, Norway acquired its first ever F-35 in September. Also in September, the plane made its first ever international flight over Galliate, Italy.
With so much media attention, there was bound to be an amazing number of incredible photos of the plane throughout the year. We have listed the 15 best below via Lockheed Martin.