On January 30, 2018 the first Lockheed F-35B for the Italian Navy arrived at Lajes in the Azores on it's way to the US.

F-35B MM7451/401 "MM7451" arrived with Eurofghter F-2000B MM55092/36-62, KC-767 MM62228 and C-130J MM62177 (operating as an SAR aircraft).

The aircraft is the first F-35B to be built outside of the USA and was handed over to the Italian military at the Cameri Production Facility on January 25, 2018.