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Air Force Aims For F-35 Nuclear Certification in January, But Jets Won’t Be Ready Then

Dan Leone By
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Air Force Aims For F-35 Nuclear Certification in January, But Jets Won’t Be Ready Then
An F-35A Lighting II carrying a B61-12 Joint Test Assembly sits on the flight line at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Sept. 21, 2021. Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft released B61-12 Joint Test Assemblies during the first Full Weapon System Demonstration, completing the final flight test exercise of the nuclear design certification process. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Rufus)

The Air Force expects to certify the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to carry nuclear weapons in January, once sufficient numbers of pilots and ground crew are trained to carry out the mission. But it may not have the jets, equipped with the proper avionics and mission systems, needed to perform the nuclear mission until several months later, according to a new delivery schedule F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin described in a filing this summer with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month.…

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