First Italian-Built STOVL F-35B Lightning II takes off to the skies Mro Business 23:35 First Italian-Built STOVL F-35B Lightning II takes off to the skies Italy’s first F-35B Lightning II known as BL-1, a Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant assembled at the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility took off for the first time. Share this Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterPlus on Google+