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Dec. 11, 2015 NEWS Thunderbolt
http://www.luke.af.mil
6 www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
Arnold test teams prep F-35
for external weapons release
Testing in the aerodynamic wind Based on Anderson’s calcula- Courtesy photo
tunnels at the Arnold Engineering tions, it’s estimated that the 1/15th
Development Complex helped pre- scale Lockheed Martin F-35 model Initial weapon integration testing for the F-35 Lightning II was conducted at the Arnold Engineering
pare the Navy variant of the F-35 has been tested in a 4T wind tun- Development Complex. Pictured here are multiple exposures of a Guided Bomb Unit-31 Joint Direct
Lightning II for its first external nel for more than 3,300 user oc- Attack Munition, separating from the F-35 Lightning II aircraft in the four-foot transonic wind tunnel
weapons release, officials said. cupancy hours at a cost exceeding during testing at AEDC in 2007.
$12 million.
During a flight completed by
the F-35 Integrated Task Force in “I am very proud of the work
September, four 500-pound Guided that we accomplished on the F-35
Bomb Unit-12 laser-guided inert program in the Tunnel 4T at
bombs were successfully released AEDC,” he said. “The individual
from the pylons on wings of an F- tests were long and complex, and
35C at a Navy test range in Mary- in most cases, required the unique
land during test runs. capabilities and expertise avail-
able only here at AEDC. I believe
The first F-35 weapon integra- that through our commitment to
tion tests were conducted at AEDC, meet the customer’s expectations,
said Aerospace Testing Alliance we (helped) deliver a product sec-
senior engineer David Anderson, ond to none.”
who added that the GBU-12 has
specifically been tested on six According to a statement from
weapon separation or Captive the aircraft’s joint program office,
Trajectory Support System tests the recent flight “confirmed the
at the complex. accuracy of the predicted release
trajectory.”
“These tests were conducted
from the conventional takeoff and Last November, the Navy suc-
landing, short takeoff/vertical land- cessfully landed F-35Cs on an
ing and carrier variant aircraft aircraft carrier off the coast of San
variants and obtained separation Diego, California. The service ex-
characteristics of the GBU-12, and pects to declare initial operational
various other weapons, from the capability in 2018.
weapon’s bay internal carriage and
external wing positions,” he said. Courtesy of af.mil
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