F-35 Milestone - First Successful Weapons Drop

ThePointblank · Fri Aug 10, 2012 4:14 am

Looks like we are moving along just fine with the beginning of the weapons testing phase of the program. Congrats to all!

http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm...ction=home.NAVAIRNewsStory&id=5091

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.”

The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbSinROAtHI&feature=player_embedded

Revelation · Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:13 pm

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.

Under command?

ThePointblank · Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:33 am

Quoting Revelation (Reply 1):
Under command?

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.

http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123103101

ebj1248650 · Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:43 pm

Maybe it's just me but that video looked animated. I'd have never thought the F-35 would move like that in flight.

Powerslide · Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:22 am

Quoting ebj1248650 (Reply 3):

Maybe it's just me but that video looked animated. I'd have never thought the F-35 would move like that in flight.

You mean fly straight and level?

ebj1248650 · Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:51 am

Quoting Powerslide (Reply 4):
You mean fly straight and level?

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.

Legs · Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:16 am

Quoting ebj1248650 (Reply 5):

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.

Powerslide · Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:07 am

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.

Legs · Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:45 pm

Quoting Powerslide (Reply 7):

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.

ThePointblank · Wed Sep 05, 2012 1:27 am

Moving on, high AoA tests will commence soon for F-35A:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/th...dwards-afb-about-to-start-f-3.html

Likewise, airborne engine start tests have wrapped up for F-35B, and they will work on starting the high AoA tests for F-35B as well:
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=69384

ThePointblank · Sat Sep 08, 2012 12:58 am

The USAF will start operational utility evaluation with the F-35 on Monday:
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...evaluation-on-10-september-376217/

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."

boeingfixer · Sat Sep 08, 2012 1:17 pm

Quoting ebj1248650 (Reply 3):
Maybe it's just me but that video looked animated. I'd have never thought the F-35 would move like that in flight.

It's more than likely a small problem with a gyro stabilized camera. The background is also moving in an erratic fashion but is in sync with the F-35.

Cheers,

John

ThePointblank · Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:06 am

Meanwhile, weapons testing continues with the first AIM-120 release (using an instrumented AIM-120):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQeBgdoiTa4

checksixx · Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:31 am

Kind of surprised no one covered this here yet...

Oroka · Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:01 pm

Quoting checksixx (Reply 13):
Kind of surprised no one covered this here yet...

lol, nobody cares when things are going right for the F-35!

wolbo · Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:50 am

So six years after it's first flight the JSF has managed to open it's doors and drop something out of it. Impressive.

checksixx · Sat Oct 27, 2012 4:05 am

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?

Powerslide · Sat Oct 27, 2012 4:56 pm

Quoting checksixx (Reply 16):
How many have the Dutch fielded?

Or anyone else besides the US for that matter.

sweair · Sat Oct 27, 2012 7:30 pm

But still 6 years...EIS is when? Combat ready?

Powerslide · Sat Oct 27, 2012 11:33 pm

Quoting sweair (Reply 18):
But still 6 years..

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 · Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:55 pm

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,

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...ce-of-lockheed-martin-f-35-378578/

ThePointblank · Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:06 am

Quoting Oroka (Reply 20):
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,
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...ce-of-lockheed-martin-f-35-378578/

http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/upl...d.jpg

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.

FYI, the F-35's Operations Procedures Manual is online:
http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFI11-2F-35AV3.pdf

F-35 Milestone - First Successful Weapons Drop

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