Page 4 - Aerotech News and Review Dec. 16 2016

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path for additional tests coming up.
On May 21, two Dutch F-35As took off from Edwards head- ing for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. After fueling up and running some checks, the jets launched over the Atlantic followed by two RNLAF KDC-10 aerial refuelers and a NATO C-17 carrying gear and spare parts. The planes landed at Leeu- warden Air Base in the Netherlands, which is one of two bases that will be home to the RNLAF’s F-35s when they arrive per- manently in 2019.
The RNLAF plans to replace its legacy F-16A/B fleet with a minimum of 37 F-35s, split between two bases.
The deployment is expected to last three weeks, then the jets will return to Edwards to continue operational test and evalu- ation.
On July 28, the F-35 Lightning II advanced its combat ca- pability by launching an air-to-air missile and directly hitting a drone over a military test range off the California coast.
U.S. Air Force test pilot, Maj. Raven LeClair, employed an AIM-9X missile from an F-35As external wing against an aerial drone target in restricted military sea test range airspace. Test data and observers confirmed the F-35 identified and targeted the drone with its mission systems sensors, passed the target ‘track’ information to the missile, enabled the pilot to verify targeting information using the high off-boresight capability of the helmet mounted display (HMD) and launched the AIM-9X from the aircraft to engage the target drone. After launch, the missile successfully acquired the target and followed an intercept flight profile before destroying the drone, achieving the first F-35 Air-to-Air kill or “Boola Boola,” which is the traditional radio call made when a pilot shoots down a drone.
Immediately prior to launching the AIM-9X, LeClair em- ployed an internally carried AIM-120C missile against another target drone. This target was beyond visual range and the AIM- 120C was given a successful self-destruct signal right before target impact.
In August, and after years of preparation, the 461st Flight Test Squadron and Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force tested the F-35 Lightning IIs ability to be decontaminated from chemical and biological weapons exposure.
Contractors, Airmen and Air Force civilians worked tirelessly in the High Desert heat to finalize the construction of a decon- tamination system and facility on the flightline to house and decontaminate an F-35A.
This was the first time an F-35 had been decontaminated. The test showed DOD and joint-partner nations that the F-35 has met the F-35 Joint Program Office’s requirements for decontamina- tion and certify the weapon system to go into full-rate produc- tion. The effort is to demonstrate the fifth-generation fighter’s
survivability can be maintained if exposed to such threats around the world.
August 17 — The F-35 Integrated Test Force recently com- pleted 25 missions comprised of 12 Weapons Delivery Accuracy and 13 weapon separation tests as part of a month-long weapons firing test surge.
Historically, WDAs take place once a month given the myriad
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F-35 AIM-120 launch
Lockheed Martin photograph by Darin Russell
Maj. Douglas Rosenstock fires an AIM-120 missile from an F-35 during a recent weapons test surge here. By the end of the surge the F-35 Integrated Test Team released 30 weapons in 31 days, a first in flight test.
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