PICTURES: F-35B flies with gun pod installed

Flight International ^ | 2/24/12 | Craig Hoyle

[Yo-Yo]

Lockheed Martin's short take-off and vertical landing F-35B has made its first flight with a key weapon system for the US Marine Corps installed.

Flown from the US Navy's Patuxent River test site in Maryland on 22 February, test aircraft BF-2 carried a 25mm gun pod on a centreline weapons station, in addition to two Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles beneath its outboard wing stations.

"Significant weapons testing for the F-35B and F-35C variants is scheduled for 2012, including fit checks, captive carriage, pit drop and aerial drop tests," said Lockheed.

Meanwhile, Royal Air Force experimental test pilot Sqn Ldr Jim Schofield has become the first UK pilot to fly the carrier variant F-35C, having performed a sortie in test aircraft CF-2 from Patuxent River.

As of 23 February, some 1,704 flights totalling more than 2,500h had been performed by the F-35 development and test fleet, said Lockheed. This total includes 114 flights conducted so far during 2012, it added.

BF-2's first flight with external stores came less than a week after a conventional take-off and landing F-35A AF-1 had also flown with two AIM-9X missiles as part of a payload including weapons carried in the aircraft's two internal bays.

[katana]

Thanks. Now I’m “sure” and duly impressed.

[A.A. Cunningham]

How much time have you logged maintaining/flying Harriers?

[TalonDJ]

you can’t fix stupid - as in building a fighter plane w/o a gun.

Sometimes a fighter is tasked for a different mission. The F-35 is a multi role aircraft. If the Navy and Marine Corps think they might have missions where they want to dismount the gun that is their business. If you have something to counter that besides 40 year old anicdotes perhaps you should go explain to them they are wrong.

[katana]

How much time have you logged maintaining/flying Harriers?

None. I'm just a civilian fan of military aviation always interested in learning from those who know more. The thanks I sent you was sincere with no sarcasm intended.

[TalonDJ]

In other news scientists discovered oranges are totally different than apples. Film at 11.

[Tommyjo]

But those aircraft don’t operate from amphibious assault ships. The requirement for the gun pod has always been there on the F-35B. The aircraft will provide close air support as well as being available for first day of the war stealth scenarios with internal payload only. I fail to understand why people can’t get their heads around such a concept?

[TXnMA]

"Honest Question: When was the last air to air shoot down with guns?"

Hmmm.... The shoot-down of an Iraqi helicopter by an A-10 with its GAU-8 during GWI?

(IIRC, the Hog pilot said, "It just came apart..." ) <GRIN...>

[Tommyjo]

Rumours of gun kills during the Eritrea-Ethiopia war in the late 1990s. During the Falklands there were gun kills. Sea Harrier against C-130 and Pucara against Westland Scout helicopter. On March 26th 1999 the lead F-15C pilot switched to guns after thinking that his AIM-120 AMRAAMs had missed the Serbian MiG-29s. The AMRAAMs had hit the two MiG-29.

[43north]

Honest answer: probably during the VN war.

When was the last time grunts on the ground were saved by a gunfighter in the air? Probably not long ago.

[SandRat]

We've been through planes with gun pods before.

The F-4 at first only could handle missiles or bombs. Then the NVAF piloted by Russians started shooting them down and we had too hurriedly come up with gun pods for the F-4.

Fighters need internal wing and nose guns.

[saminfl]

Then maybe they should quit saying the apple is going to replace the orange.