Page 1 - Edwards AFB Desert Wings 8-21-15

Volume 63, Number 8 Serving the community of Edwards Air Force Base, California August 21, 2015

www.edwards.af.mil – www.facebook.com/edwardsairforcebase

JSF ITF reaches historic sortie milestone

by Jet Fabara
412th TW Public Affairs

The Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Lockheed Martin photograph

Force, which oversees all three test vari- 'XULQJWKHPRQWKRI-XO\WKH-RLQW6WULNH)LJKWHU,QWHJUDWHG7HVW)RUFHÀHZVRUWLHVPDNLQJLWD¿UVWIRUWKH,7)LQYROYLQJDQHZPRQWKO\
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ants of the F-35 Lightning II, has proved

its resolve to test and equip the U.S. Air

Force, Navy and Marine Corps with their
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This is evidenced by achieving a histori-
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ing record.

During the month of July, the JSF ITF
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the average and the highest sortie count in

a single month ever recorded in ITF his-

tory,” said Capt. Robert Leidel, 412th Air-

craft Maintenance Squadron, F-35 Aircraft
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According to Leidel, there are a total of

nine F-35s assigned to the JSF ITF and all
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monthly tally.
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sents test points being completed in order
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Leidel said. “Obviously, the more sorties we
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This was not a deliberate effort to increase

the hours. At the ITF, we are trying to safely
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can, as quickly as we can. As the program

matures and we get better, the increase to

See JSF, Page 3

418th FLTS does prerequisite testing for KC-46 program

by Rebecca Amber the receivers in flight during
Staff writer
refueling. Therefore, with suc-
The 418th Flight Test Squad-
ron is setting the stage for the ar- cessful test data, we can deduce
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aerial refueler with legacy tanker
fuel surge testing conducted July greater risk of causing damage in
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Both the KC-135 and the KC- we have in place right now,” said
10 were tested successively on
the ground to baseline surge Justin Almeleh, 418th FLTS, aer-
pressure environments. LDOUHIXHOLQJÀLJKWWHVWHQJLQHHU

The same test will be conduct- The test was a risk-reduction
ed upon the arrival of the Boe-
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surge environments will look
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parisons to legacy platforms. V\VWHPVLQÀLJKW7KHLQVWUXPHQ-

“We know that the KC-10 and tation required to test in flight
KC-135 don’t cause damage to
would have been very costly,

technically challenging and dif-
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Instead, the ground test is con-

ducted using a Boeing tool that is

See TANKER, Page 8

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