The test was considered a major milestone in the F-35 program in achieving the Marine Corps’ F-35 Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2015, who will employing the 2B software. The US Air Force is slated to hit IOC in 2016 and Navy in 2018. (Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin has proclaimed a successful test flight and verification year for weapons integration following the successful employment of a GBU-32 JDAM from an F-35B’s internal weapons bay against a fixed ground test target.
The F-35B aircraft, BF-18, launched from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base was piloted by US Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Jon “Miles” Ohman, and operated with Block 2B software. The 100 pound GBU-32 was released from an altitude of 25,000 feet.
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Lockheed Martin vice president of F-35 test and verification said: “This milestone completed the 2013 U.S. Government and Lockheed Martin integrated test force team commitment to perform a Weapon Delivery Accuracy test for each of the Block 2B software weapon types, which includes the AIM-120, GBU-12, and GBU-31/32.”
It was the final weapons test of 2013 for the program.
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