The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is expected to complete full weapons certification this year after conducting several significant milestones since September 2014, the Pentagon said in a 15 January statement.
"The weapons development programme continues to track forward on the plan laid out by the Technical Baseline Review approved in 2010," said Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the Pentagon's programme executive officer for F-35. The certification is expected to be completed within months, according to a spokeswoman for the programme.
The US Marine Corps (USMC) is slated to be the first service to declare their F-35, the jump-jet variant of the aircraft, deployable.
"All weapons tests needed for Block 2B software, the software the US Marine Corps will use to declare IOC [initial operational capability], are complete and will be ready to go for combat capability," Lt Gen Bogdan said in a statement.
The corps will use the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) B-model of the aircraft, as well as a smaller number of carrier-variant C-models being procured by the US Navy (USN). The US Air Force (USAF) and several international customers, meanwhile, will fly the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) A-model.
Specific F-35 flight test milestones completed during the past four months include:
- The first live-fire testing on an F-35B ground test article were completed on 9 September.
- The first and night flights using the Generation III helmet-mounted display with 3iR4 software were completed on 9 September and 18 September, respectively.
- An AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) was launched from an F-35C on 30 September, marking the last weapon separation test needed for Block 2B software.
- The first F-35 day and night mission effectiveness close-air support (CAS) flights were conducted on 21 October and thus completed 2B software CAS testing.
- The first separation test of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb was also conducted on 21 October.
- The first F-35 external flutter tests flown with the AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) and Paveway IV missiles were conducted on 29 October and 13 November, respectively.
- The final buffet, loads and high-angle-of-attack testing required for F-35A Block 2B software were completed on 18 November.
- An F-35C set a record for 17 sorties in a day for a single F-35 aircraft on 5 November and a record 22 sorties with two F-35C test articles aboard USS Nimitz for F-35C Sea Trials off the coast of San Diego from 3-14 November.
- Three Weapons Delivery Accuracy (WDA) live fire events were completed in single a week when the F-35 employed two AIM-120 AMRAAMs and one Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from 18-25 November. These events included the first supersonic-guided missile launch and the first JDAM release on target coordinates generated from the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).
The F-35 also surpassed 25,000 combined flight hours in December, and fleet aircraft flew twice as many of those as test articles did, the programme office said.
Weapons stations and capacity for F-35 variants, certified during System Development and Demonstration testing. Additional weapons (both US and international) will be incorporated through follow-on development efforts. (US Department of Defense)
Meanwhile, comprehensive flight tests of the F-35A variant GAU-22 25 mm gun system are scheduled to begin within months at Edwards Air Force Base in California and will include ground fire tests, muzzle calibration, flight test integration, and in-flight operational tests. The 25 mm missionised gun pod carried externally, centerline mounted on the F-35B and F-35C , is also scheduled to begin testing this year using 3F software, which is currently planned for delivery with the Low Rate Initial Production nine (LRIP 9) US aircraft in 2017.
COMMENT
Much of the recently completed testing is particularly important for the USMC, as the corps still plans to declare its F-35B operational in July 2015. The USAF is aiming for 2016 for the F-35A and the USN is planning to declare IOC for the F-35C in 2019.
Lt Gen Bogdan most recently said that a small slip in the USMC's IOC date is possible but that he hasn't yet given up hope of hitting the mark. "We're talking weeks here," he said when asked late last year about a potential IOC delay. "My commitment is 1 July, and if I miss that date I will apologise to the Marine Corps."
The USMC, however, has not demurred from the 1 July goal. Pilots at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona, site of the first operational F-35B squadron, have shifted to the more detailed IOC-specific training and readiness standards. Further, delivery of 2B software into operational aircraft is scheduled for March 2015, USMC officials have said.
F-35 IOC has slipped multiple times for each of the three variants. So now that one of the three is finally approaching the crucial 'deployability' milestone, all eyes are on the USMC.
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