UK F-35B achieves key weapons test milestone

 

London, U.K. – A U.K. test team including personnel from BAE Systems, has successfully completed initial aircraft handling trials for ASRAAM and Paveway IV weapons on the F-35B Lightning II aircraft at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, United States.

 

The trial or “dummy” weapons rounds, which are identical in fit and form to the operational weapons, were tested on the Short Take-off Vertical Landing (STOVL) F-35B for the first time during a series of flights from the US Navy’s test facility at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The initial tests are an important step in integrating weapons onto the F-35B, allowing test pilots to understand how they affect the way the aircraft performs and handles. 

 

The U.K.’s Royal Air Force (RAF) already uses Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) and Paveway IV on its existing combat air fleet. The successful tests are a step towards full interoperability between the current and future fast jets that will be used by the RAF and the U.K.’s Royal Navy from 2018. 

 

Two F-35B STOVL aircraft, flown by Billie Flynn, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 test pilot and Squadron Leader Andy Edgell from the RAF, completed 9 flights with MBDA’s ASRAAM missiles and Raytheon’s Paveway IV laser guided bombs. The flights involved different configurations of both weapons types on the aircraft. 

 

The successful tests will be followed by the next stage of weapons testing due to take place in early 2015. These tests will involve weapon separation and then guided releases of both ASRAAM and Paveway IV from the aircraft. 

 

BAE Systems’ lead test pilot for F-35, Pete ‘Wizzer” Wilson, said: “The team at Patuxent River has got over two thousand hours of flying under their belts for the F-35B variant and the handling and performance of the aircraft has shone through throughout. These latest trials were no exception and help us to move confidently into the next phase of weapons testing.”

 

J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's vice president for F-35 Test & Verification from the Joint Strike Fighter program added: “These trials show the truly international nature of the F-35 enterprise – being led out of a U.S. Navy facility, involving a joint U.K. Ministry of Defense and industry team, working alongside the U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin. And the test results for one partner will benefit all, further demonstrating the versatility and capability of the F-35 as a multi-role platform.”

 

BAE Systems is responsible for the production of each and every rear fuselage and tails set. Along with manufacturing aircrafts sets for each of the three variants, the U.K. business also produces carrier wing tips for the carrier variant and nozzle bay doors for the STOVL variant. In addition the company plays a key role in vehicle and mission systems, life support system, and prognostics health management integration. BAE Systems Inc. in the U.S. adds further key capabilities to the F-35 portfolio in the areas of electronic warfare, advance apertures, advanced counter-measure systems, vehicle management, and active inceptor systems.