F-35 external weapons testing makes history, quadruples effectiveness and test efficiency

Courtesy Photo | Sept. 23 marked the first time the F-35 Lightning II program conducted an external store weapons separation test. The Pax River ITF test team released four GBU-12 Laser Guided Bomb inert test assets from the F-35C external wing weapon pylons of aircraft CF-02 during flight 394. The team released the weapons individually during four test runs on a single flight over the Atlantic Test Ranges, demonstrating their test efficiency by accomplishing four flights worth of test work in a single flight. (Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe)  

MD, UNITED STATES

09.23.2015

Story by Sylvia Pierson 

F-35 Lightning II Pax River ITF   

WASHINGTON - The F-35 Lightning II Naval Variants test team at the Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (Pax River ITF) added yet another groundbreaking weapons test to its list of milestones — the first-ever external store weapons separation in the history of the entire F-35 Lightning II program.

The Pax River ITF test team released four GBU-12 Laser Guided Bomb inert test assets from the F-35C external wing weapons pylons of aircraft CF-02 on Sept. 23. Released individually during four test runs on a single flight over the Atlantic Test Ranges (ATR), all weapons separations were successful and confirmed the accuracy of the predicted release trajectory.

The quadruple weapons separation also demonstrated the team’s high margin of safety and test efficiency by accomplishing four flights worth of test work in a single flight. Together, engineers in the ATR control room monitored the test flight and reviewed video and telemetry from each GBU-12 separation event to confirm it was safe to proceed to the next release point. The team also saved costs by clearing a range only once rather than four times to accomplish each separation.

While flight test programs often rely upon a series of weekly individual separation flights to accommodate engineering analysis and determine if it is safe to proceed to the next test point, the F-35 Weapons Certification process utilizes extensive wind tunnel testing and computer analysis to predict the trajectory of weapons released from the aircraft. Additionally, the F-35 features an on-board instrumentation capability that delivers real-time analysis data to engineers in the control room.

Each weapons separation matched simulation models with a high degree of fidelity, which will expedite the clearances of future weapons and employment envelopes.

Based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the highly diverse cadre of PAX ITF technicians, maintainers, engineers, support staff and test pilots have flown nearly 500 flights, logged more than 700 flight hours, and achieved almost 3,400 test points since January 2015. The team’s five F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) and four F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) aircraft have supported a wide array of test flights, including a very successful block of F-35B weapons separations, which included the first AIM-120 shots from stations 4 and 8 of the internal bomb racks, and the final inert SDD store separation test with an AIM-120 released from an F-35C on Sept. 19.

The team also began multi-phase testing of the 500-pound dual mode F-35 Block 3F, U.K.-unique Paveway IV precision-guided bomb June 12. Other milestones include the June 13 separation of an AMRAAM/AIM-120 instrumented mass simulation vehicle (IMSV) from station 4 during a pushover (a less than 1.0g maneuver). Additional weapons separation testing during the third week of June featured three AMRAAM/AIM-120 separations, a GBU-12 laser-guided separation and a GBU-32 JDAM separation. The team also executed one of the AMRAAM/AIM-120 separations and both the GBU-12 and GBU-32 separations with the F-35B external gun pod installed. The team twice conducted multi-weapons separations during one sortie and, by the last week in June, the team had conducted nine weapons separations in 15 days.

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The F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine, stealthy strike fighter that incorporates low-observable (stealth) technologies, defensive avionics, advanced sensor fusion, internal and external weapons, and an advanced prognostic maintenance capability to deliver optimum international security via integrated coalition operations. Partner nations include the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway — as well as three Foreign Military Sales (FMS) countries — Japan, Israel and South Korea. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant is a multi-role, stealthy strike aircraft replacement for the Air Force’s F-16 Falcon and the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, complementing the F-22A Raptor. The F-35B STOVL variant is a multi-role stealthy strike aircraft to replace the Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier aircraft. The F-35C carrier-suitable variant (CV) is completed by the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and equips the Navy and Marine Corps with a multi-role, stealthy strike aircraft to replace the F/A-18 Hornet.

As of Sept. 1, the F-35 Lightning II surpassed 40,000 combined flight hours between F-35 military fleet aircraft and System Development and Demonstration (SDD) test aircraft. The F-35 Operational Fleet features 112 aircraft (105 US and 7 International Partner aircraft) and the F-35 Test Fleet features 18 aircraft (6 F-35A, 7 F-35B, 5 F-35C).

Currently, nearly 200 F-35 pilots and nearly 2,000 maintainers from U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Netherlands and the U.K. have been qualified through the F-35 Training System. Since January 2015, as they conduct developmental test of nine F-35 naval variants. Most notably, the team paved the way for the Marine Corps’ July 31 declaration of F-35B Initial Operating Capability and is progressing through the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the program at a brisk pace.

• Date Taken: 09.23.2015
• Date Posted: 10.05.2015 06:50
• Story ID: 178004
• Location: MD, US