Lockheed F-35 Releases First Airborne Weapon in Test; Erik Etz Comments

Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 fighter jet released an airborne weapon for the first time during a test flight earlier this week in the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic test range.

The Navy said the BF-3, a short take-off and vertical landing F-35 variant, released a 1,000-pound weapon while traveling at a speed of nearly 460 miles per hour and an altitude of close to 4,200 feet.

“While this weapons separation test is just one event in a series of hundreds of flights and thousands of test points that we are executing this year, it does represent a significant entry into a new phase of testing for the F-35 program,” said Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of test for F-35 naval variants.

According to the Navy, this was also the first weapon release from an internal weapons bay for a fighter aircraft designedfor the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.K. and Italy.

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