Thu, Apr 22, 2010
Latest Lighting II Will Test Weapons-Carrying Ability
The seventh F-35 Lightning II flight test aircraft flew for the
first time Tuesday, with the overall objective of validating the
F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant's weapons
suite. The jet, known as AF-2 and piloted by Lockheed Martin F-35
Test Pilot Jeff Knowles, took off at 1727 CDT from Naval Air
Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base and flew for 1 hour and 23
minutes.
F35 AF-2
"The first flight of AF-2 is a significant achievement for the
F-35 program, the U.S. Air Force and our international partners who
will operate the F-35A," said James "Sandy" Sandstrom, Lockheed
Martin's F-35 U.S. Air Force program manager. "This aircraft is
configured to test and verify the multiple weapons loads that will
deliver 5th generation combat capability to the warfighter."
AF-2 will be used to verify the F-35A's ability to carry both
internal and external weapons throughout the required flight
envelope. The jet is also the first F-35 to have the internal
GAU-22/A 25-millimeter gun system installed. The system features a
four-barrel Gatling gun which fires at a rate of 3,000 rounds per
minute.
Gun testing on AF-2 will be used to confirm predictions of gun
vibration, acoustic and recoil loads with the aircraft and various
weapons. Additionally, the aircraft will be used to confirm
vibro-acoustic loads with the weapons-bay doors open and closed
with various weapon configurations. The measurements will validate
the structural design of the jet, and provide evidence of the F-35A
weapons' compatibility with gunfire and weapons-bay
environments.
Supersonic launch of internal weapons, including maximum-speed
(Mach 1.6) launch of internal air-to-air missiles, is a feature of
all F-35s. An internal-weapons-only configuration is used when Very
Low Observable stealth is required to complete a mission. When VLO
stealth is not required, more than 15,000 pounds of additional
ordnance can be loaded onto six external pylons.
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