Page 5 - Aerotech News and Review Dec. 16 2016

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at Edwards tested the aircraft in a unique way.
Rather than wait for the right weather conditions, the formation of the cloud deck, technology was used to design 3-D printed nylon attach- ments to mimic the ice that would form on the aircraft during ascent and descent.
“This was a first-of-type testing done here at Edwards. No other pro- gram or CTF has accomplished icing testing in this manner,” said Lt. Col. Cory Naddy, director of the Global Vigilance CTF. He said the combi- nation of the testing techniques and the fact that this is an autonomous unmanned air vehicle made the test- ing high risk by wing standards, and required significant effort behind the scenes in the CTF.
KC-46A Pegasus
The KC-46 Tanker Program reached a major milestone Jan. 24, when it successfully demonstrated its first-ever aerial refueling contact and fuel transfer with an F-16C from Edwards Air Force Base.
The flight was the first in a block of testing out of Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash., using the boom system.
The Pegasus passed 1,600 pounds of fuel to an F-16 piloted by Lt. Col. Daniel Alix, 416st Flight Test Squad- ron, who characterized the mission as a complete success.
The KC-46A is currently sched- uled to arrive at Edwards AFB in early 2017 to continue aerial refuel- ing certifications and simulator data collection.
In the meantime, 412th Test Wing
well as discipline engineers from the 418th FLTS. An additional Edwards AFB F-16D served as a chase plane for safety and test support.
On Feb. 10, A U.S. Air Force and Boeing aircrew aboard the KC-46 tanker successfully refueled an F/A- 18 fighter jet in flight.
The air refueling was the pro- gram’s first using the KC-46’s hose and drogue system. It took place in the skies over Washington state.
According to Boeing, the flight lasted more than four hours and the tanker’s air refueling operator suc- cessfully transferred fuel to the F/A- 18 at 20,000 feet.
F/A-18s are flown by both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
The KC-46 refueled an F-16 fighter from Edwards AFB using its air refu- eling boom Jan. 24.
On March 1, a U.S. Air Force and Boeing aircrew aboard the KC-46 Pegasus tanker successfully refueled a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II in flight. It took place in the skies over Washington State.
The air refueling used the KC-46s hose and drogue system.
July 8 and 12 — The KC-46A Pegasus connected in flight with an F-16 Fighting Falcon July 8 and a C-17 Globemaster III July 12.
These tests with the F-16 and C-17 were in support of the Milestone C requirements to rendezvous, contact, and transfer fuel to several receiver aircraft types.
An initial attempt with the F-16 earlier this year was successful, how- ever higher-than-expected axial loads on the boom were detected. These
KC-46A prepares to refuel Edwards AFB F-16
Air Force photograph by Christopher Okula
A KC-46A Pegasus prepares to refuel an Edwards AFB F-16 Fighting Falcon July 13, 2016, over the northwest United States.
of coordination required. The high- est number previously accomplished in a month was three in November of 2014 during block 2B software testing.
Maj. Charles Trickey, interim di- rector of operations for the 461st Flight Test Squadron, flew the final mission of the surge Aug. 17. The mission was completed at White Sands, where the F-35s shot two AM- RAAMS at a QF-4 Drone.
“Some of these WDAs were par- ticularly challenging events,” Trickey said. He said the final mission was actually the fourth attempt to com- plete this test.
“It was really cool to see the sat- isfaction of the team, and to get that feeling of accomplishment after do- ing something that challenging.”
All told, the ITF deployed 30 weapons in 31 days, which included 12 WDAs, and 13 separations, ac- cording to Trickey.
“30 separations in 31 days; that’s never been done before in flight test,” said Capt. Brett Tillman, a flight test engineer with the 461st. “The fact that we could get everything together to do that number of separations in that few days is pretty amazing.”
These successful test events — performed using the F-35’s newest block 3F software — demonstrated the accuracy of the aircraft. Five of the test events featured dropping mul- tiple weapons.
Aug. 9-Sept. 1 — Three F-35B air- craft and 75 U.S. Marines from Ma- rine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron Detachment 1 at Edwards Air Force Base along with 21 test personnel from the JSF Operational Test Team at Edwards deployed to Eglin AFB, Fla., to complete Op- erational Test missile shots of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.
In December, all three variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter were
used by the 461st Flight Test Squad- ron for multi-ship testing, which employed four or six jets to ensure communication systems between the planes are working properly and ac- curately.
The F-35 contains state-of-the-art tactical data links that provide the se- cure sharing of data among its flight members as well as other airborne, surface and ground-based platforms required to perform assigned mis- sions.
“One of the primary reasons we do multi-ship testing is to ensure data is shared appropriately between air- craft in order to maximize lethality and survivability,” said Maj. Raven LeClair, 461 FLTS, F-35 test pilot. “The F-35 uses [Multifunction Ad- vanced Data Link] to share infor- mation on air and ground threats in order to more effectively target. This is especially applicable to one of the F-35’s primary missions — finding and killing advanced surface-to-air missile systems.”
The MADL is a high-data-rate, directional communications link that allows secure transmission of coordi- nated tactics and engagement for the fifth-generation fighter when operat- ing in high-threat environments.
LeClair said his squadron is specif- ically testing the ability to find SAM systems using a capability called En- hanced Geo Location.
F-22 Raptors come home
Just after the turn of the century, it wasn’t unusual to see seven F-22A Raptors parked around the 411th Flight Test Squadron compound dur- ing the fighter’s early developmental test and evaluation days.
Today, the 411th and F-22 Com- bined Test Force has just four of the fifth-generation fighters left — in- cluding one in the hangar undergoing maintenance — to conduct testing to continually improve the Raptor fleet’s
combat and long-term capabilities. For a few weeks in September, however, Edwards AFB’s Raptors have been joined by four operational F-22s for testing. The jets are from Langley Air Force Base, Va,; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; and Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The planes are ac- companied by pilots and maintenance
crews from their respective bases. Lt. Col. Randel Gordon, F-22 CTF director and 411th FLTS commander, said operational F-22s from the Air Force come to Edwards for testing occasionally, but it is “highly unusu- al” to have eight total Raptors here, including the one being serviced in
the 411th FLTS hangar.
The visit by the four operational
jets prompted a unique photo op- portunity for squadron workers, who were given the chance to take photos with seven planes in the background. The event marks a bittersweet occa- sion.
“This will be the last time we have this many jets ever in this com- pound,” said Gordon.
Global Hawk
Whenever the Global Hawk begins a mission, it has to travel through a certain area of the atmosphere that, under certain conditions, can create ice on the aircraft, adding weight and aerodynamic drag.
A cloud deck from about 8,000 feet to 22,000 feet is the main concern for the Global Hawk, according to proj- ect engineer Jonny Kim, Global Vigi- lance Combined Test Force.
According to Maj. Ryan Finlayson, test pilot with the Global Vigilance CTF, the ice only forms for about five minutes on the way up, and again on the way down through this cloud deck.
To assure that these variables will not negatively impact the Global Hawk’s role, members of the Glob- al Vigilance Combined Test Force
B-52 JASSM drop
Air Force photograph by Christian Turner
A B-52 releases a Joint Attack Surface Standoff Missile from internal weapons bay at Edwards. This is the first time the JASSM has separated from the Conventional Rotary Launcher in the internal bay of the bomber. The test was the first phase of validation for the CLR.
December 16, 2016
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personnel and assets have been hard at work in Washington. An instru- mented C-17 Globemaster III from Edwards is also one of the six total aircraft required to receive fuel in flight in support of the KC-46 Pro- gram’s upcoming Milestone (MS) C Low Rate Initial Production decision.
The test was a joint effort between Boeing and Edwards AFB personnel with a 412th TW pilot in the cockpit of the instrumented F-16C. Inside the KC-46A, along with the Boeing Test and Evaluation team, were 418th Flight Test Squadron pilots, boom op- erators and flight test engineers, as
loads were again present during the initial attempt with the C-17 and ne- cessitated installation of hydraulic pressure relief valves in the boom.
This week’s successful tests show the boom axial loads hardware fix, designed by Boeing engineers, is performing as expected to alleviate the loads.
On July 15, the KC-46 Pegasus program completed all flight tests re- quired for the Milestone C production decision by offloading 1,500 pounds of fuel to an A-10 Thunderbolt II.
See 412th, Page 6