Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] F-35B Joint Strike Fighter variant accomplished a significant milestone recently by successfully releasing a munition in flight, according to a company statement.
The F-35B, which is the Marine Corps’ short takeoff and landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35, released an inert 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) separation weapon in an Atlantic Ocean test range while traveling at 400 knots at an altitude of 4,200 feet.
The release was the first time for any version of the F-35 to conduct an airborne weapon separation, as well as the first from an internal weapons bay for a fighter aircraft also designated for Italy and United Kingdom. The milestone also marks the start of validating the F-35’s capability to employ precision weapons and allow pilots to engage the enemy on the ground and in the air.
“While this weapons separation test is just one event in a series of hundreds of flights and thousands of test points that we are executing this year, it does represent a significant entry into a new phase of testing for the F-35 program,” Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of testing for F-35 naval variants, said in a statement.
An aerial weapons separation test checks for proper release of the weapon from its carriage system and trajectory away from the aircraft. It is the culmination of a significant number of prerequisite tests including ground fit checks, ground pit drops and aerial captive carriage and environment flights to ensure the system is working properly before expanding the test envelope in the air.
Aircraft and land-based test monitoring systems collected data from the successful separation, which is in review at the F-35 integrated test force at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.
The F-35B STOVL variant is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings to enable air power projection from amphibious ships, ski jump aircraft carriers and expeditionary airfields. The F-35B is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River and Edwards AFB, Calif., before delivery to the fleet.