Quote: NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The F-35 Lightning II accomplished a significant test milestone Aug. 8 when the aircraft successfully released a weapon in flight.
BF-3, a short take-off and vertical landing F-35 variant, released an inert 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) separation weapon over water in an Atlantic test range while traveling at 400 knots at an altitude of 4,200 feet.
“While this weapons separation test is just one event in a series of hundreds of flights and thousands of test points that we are executing this year, it does represent a significant entry into a new phase of testing for the F-35 program,” said Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of test for F-35 naval variants. “Today’s release of a JDAM was the result of extraordinary effort by our team of maintainers, engineers, pilots and others who consistently work long hours to deliver F-35 warfighting capability to the U.S. services and our international partners.”
Revelation From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 10447 posts, RR: 20 Reply 1, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 9693 times:
Quoting ThePointblank (Thread starter): The F-35 Lightning II accomplished a significant test milestone Aug. 8 when the aircraft successfully released a weapon in flight.
Yep. Don't want pilots accidentally pushing the shoot button!
Notice how fast the bomb separates from the aircraft; the F-35 has a pneumatic bomb ejection system. Major advance over other aircraft that use pyrotechnics. It means a safer work environment for ground crews around the aircraft, and is more reliable.
ebj1248650 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1932 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (9 months 1 week 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 9158 times:
Maybe it's just me but that video looked animated. I'd have never thought the F-35 would move like that in flight.
ebj1248650 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1932 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (9 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 9100 times:
The Youtube video made the airplane look very wobbly. Had a kind of animated look to it. Might have been the photographer didn't have a good grip on the camera, but I would have thought the airplane would be more stable during a weapons release.
Powerslide From Canada, joined Oct 2010, 481 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (9 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 8771 times:
Quoting legs (Reply 6): Its probably a case of slight disturbances in the F-35 and the chase plane's flight path stacking up to make it look much worse than it was.
I thought it was because the F35 had poor flight control characteristics and was unable to maintain stable, level flight when dropping munitions. Thanks for clarifying.
What I said above was just a guess. But I would be incredibly surprised if the test program had progressed to weapons quals without fixing basic flying stability problems like that. Just from memory, I havent heard of any problems with the flight control systems with the F-35.
Quote: The US Air Force is scheduled to start an operational utility evaluation (OUE) of its Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) fleet at Eglin AFB, Florida, on 10 September.
The OUE is scheduled to last 65 training days, says Lt Col Randy Efferson, 33rd Operations Group deputy commander and lead planning officer for the evaluation. The review is being led by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) though an F-35 Joint Operational Test Team (JOTT).
"What they are here to do is evaluate the entire air vehicle system that Lockheed Martin has delivered," Efferson says. "That entails the logistical support, the maintenance side of it, the maintenance training side of it, and the pilot training and the pilot execution side. So it's everything."
checksixx From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 996 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (6 months 3 weeks 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 3594 times:
Wolbo...it is impressive. Complicated things, such as stealth aircraft, require a lot of testing. The US had fielded 4 production manned stealth aircraft to date. How many have the Dutch fielded?
I didn't know there was an acceptable timeline for fighter development and testing. The more complex the machine the longer it takes to hash out all the kinks. There was nothing revolutionary about the 4th gen SH or Eurocanards so their programs went rather smooth in comparison.
Oroka From Canada, joined Dec 2006, 787 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (6 months 1 week 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2597 times:
Gave me a chuckle!
Quote: "The system right now is behaving as advertised, [although] occasionally, we will have some issues with it on the ground," he says. However, this is usually easily fixed by shutting the aircraft down and then restarting it,
Quote:
"The system right now is behaving as advertised, [although] occasionally, we will have some issues with it on the ground," he says. However, this is usually easily fixed by shutting the aircraft down and then restarting it, http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...ce-of-lockheed-martin-f-35-378578/
Definitely good news to be this mature at this stage of development. It means the hours of development and flights in the CATbird have paid off. The aircraft is performing as expected.
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