Even if the bomb used in the test did not contain any explosive, the F-35 test team made a new step towards operational status by conducting the program’s first guided weapon test on Edwards Air Force Base Precision Impact Range Area in California, on Oct. 29.
The Electro-Optical Targeting System, or EOTS, enabled the pilot to identify, track, designate and deliver the GBU-12 on target.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
Here’s the Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35A. The following images show the F-35A AM-1 5087, the first Royal Norwegian Air Force Lightning II aircraft during some of the first test flights it conducted in October […]
The Navy’s F-35C has kicked off the second phase of Developmental Testing at sea. On Oct. 2, U.S. Navy test pilots Cmdr. Tony “Brick” Wilson and LT Chris “TJ” Karapostoles landed F-35C test aircraft CF-03 […]
….and here are some stunning air-to-air shots! During a seven week detachment to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, a Royal Air Force (RAF) A330 Voyager tanker conducted 18 air-to-air refueling (AAR) test trials with an […]
Here’s a picture of the tank at weapon impact.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/f-35b-strikes-tank-with-guided-bomb-in-test-392372
Looks like a miss to me…