http://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article/1158108/f-35c-targeting-system-guides-weapon-to-moving-target/









EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
The F-35 Integrated Test Force recently performed another first-of-its-kind test when the aircraft released a laser-guided bomb against a moving target.
By Christopher Ball, 412th Test Wing Public Affairs / Published April 20, 2017

An F-35C being tested here released specially built GBU-12 Paveway II guided bomb over a controlled range at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the California desert, successfully engaging a small pickup truck March 29.

According to engineer Collin O’Fallon of the 775th Flight Test Squadron, this F-35 weapons delivery accuracy test was the first from an F-35 in the 3F software configuration, which has incorporated new release logic to enhance effectiveness against moving targets, with the objective of reducing pilot workload. O’Fallon is matrixed to the 461st Flight Test Squadron “Deadly Jesters” for the testing.

“This logic is called Lead Point Compute, which in essence, delays the release point of the weapon to ensure the weapon has the available kinematics to guide to and reach the target at its future location,” O’Fallon said.

The system evaluates the speed and direction of the target against the altitude and speed of the aircraft to determine the exact release.

“The higher and faster you go, the farther you can sling the thing,” he said.

The GBU-12 is a proven weapon with many years of service on multiple platforms. So these tests are designed to stress the weapon platform -- the aircraft – rather than the weapon itself.  For testing, the GBU-12 was built up using an explosively inert warhead, and the fuze was replaced with an inertial measurement unit to measure accelerations during employment, according to O’Fallon.

“This was really a test of the aircraft targeting system and associated weaponeering logic, and the results of this test will be used to certify this capability with a GBU-12 on the F-35.

The weaponeering logic is all the information compiled to give the pilot that one solution.

“(The pilot) doesn’t have to think about how fast the target’s going, or what direction,” O’Fallon said. “By him using this 3F capability, it’s doing all the weaponeering for him. That’s really the big thing, it’s a single-seat fighter. He’s got to do it all, so we want to do as much for him as we can.”

Although the GBU-12 was inert, it still made short work of its intended target, a small pickup truck.

O’Fallon said the decision was that the target vehicle would be towed on a 60-foot trailer by an existing remote controlled tow vehicle in the interest of saving time and money. The tow vehicle was not controlled in real time, but rather the route was recorded via GPS and the controlling computer drove this route maintaining a sterile exclusion zone.

“It’s pretty cool. The guy gets in, hits the record button. He drives the route we want. Then he hits save and the vehicle will reset itself to its initial start point,” said O'Fallon.

The whole point of the autonomous tow vehicle was safety, making sure nobody’s in the hazard zone.

“Nobody has to be in there making last-minute adjustments,” O’Fallon said.

According to O’Fallon, the data collected from this test will certify this weapon capability and enhance the lethality of the F-35.

"This test is also the first developmental test release of a guided GBU-12 from the F-35C model."

Developmental testing here has now performed a GBU-12 release from every F-35 variant.

because the earthling stole the Iludium Pu-38 explosive space modulatorrrr!

they could have just gunned the target.

oh, wait...


very cool middle pic, as you can see the weapon

Does the gun work yet?

Don't they have to wait like eleventeen years or something to get the software for the gun to work?

If you look close, they did not even hit the trailer.

~20 or so feet behind it.

That's what it looks like to me.

Yea, because a 500lb bomb needs to hit the target right dead center to be effective.  

lol are you drunk?

That's cool as fuck.

some people would complain if you gave them a $100 bill with wrinkles in it.

Same on a stationary target:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc9Qc47WNFo

...but it's a 500lb bomb.  Close counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and quarter ton bombs.

It missed.

Thing is that back in 91 we were all amazed with the footage showing bombs flying through windows and down vent pipes. That was using 1980s technology.
We now have all this money tied up in the most technologically advanced plane built to date and the damn thing can't hit a pickup.

software is a very real problem throughout F-35.


B/C models don't do an internal gun. They have a pod slung underneath.

F-35B gun firing

Attached File

Whoop de doo, it can drop a bomb.  Does this mean the f35 is combat ready?

We have them deployed overseas

That's not really impressive.

Favorite line from the article:



“The higher and faster you go, the farther you can sling the thing,” he said.

You both realize that's an inert bomb?

That shit flying up is just from the energy of the inert bomb hitting the pavement there.

A real 500lb bomb with explosives would have devastated that target.

Depending on the distance of the aircraft from the target, the laser spot the bomb was seeking could've been much larger in diameter then the target itself so you wouldn't necessarily get a direct impact on the trailer.

That close is more then adequate.

Life gets chancy nowdays anytime your lower then 10,000'. Thats the entire idea behind these weapons and delivery systems. Against a halfway decent enemy even the A-10 would have a problem from manpads and advanced AA, the Iraqi's were wet poodles compared to what we might face.

That stems from test point scheduling constraints.  There's no latent problem holding up the integration of the cannons, it's an agreed upon scheduling limitation.  For the B and C, the cannon is outside the scope of the original specification, and the weapons integration scheduling reflects that.

Read the article? It didn't just drop a bomb.  

It did calculations to insure the LGB could actually reach the target from the release point.

It could be really bad for others in the area (troops/civilians) if that bomb landed short of the intended target in a real life scenario.

Ya know we can drop GBU-12s too?

its gotta hit pretty fucking close due to the fuze/bomb setup, especially on a 12

So it can do the same thing an F-4 can do.  Yay!  Such success!  Such amazing abilities!  Worth the trillions of dollars

you mean doing airshows???

another expert i see

tell us what is really happening

But a lot of people wouldn't get paid if the F4 remained in service. Quit being selfish and think of the defense contractors for once.

That will be in the F-35K..

F16 with a Sniper pod can do that shit already.  Move along, nothing to see here.

Lol, duh.




In the article they insinuate a direct hit.

I'm just sayin...

Everytime I see an F35, I guess the canopy makes me think of George Jetsons "car".

So......it basically did what an A-10 could have done ~40 years ago using $10,000 worth of AP bullets instead of a half-million dollar bomb?

Intradesting. 

Well....last year I had a GBU-38 land 8' next to a parked Helix. I'll be another fucker if it didn't just up and drive away. Craziest shit I've seen. A 1000# GBU32 finished them off later so alls well that ends well.

Nothing happened that hasn't been happening for 40 years yet because an F-35 managed to do it, it's amazing!

Is this different from what LANTIRN and Sniper XR have been doing for decades?  Or is it just testing the ability of the F-35 to do this without add-on pods that's the achievement?

This is Easy Rhino.

Impact with high order detonation, have a nice day.

No. If that weren't an inert weapon, it would have "neutralized" the fuck outta that target.

TC

KA3B--- dude I really enjoy your posts.

Bingo.  From what I understand, it did even more.  The pilot pulls the trigger, but the system decides when to release the bomb on its own so he doesn't have keep monitoring the system.

Pilot sees a MOVING TARGET he wants to hit with a big ass BOMB.
Pilot lines up with target and pulls trigger to bomb target.
Pilot no longer dicks around with weapon system and goes back to flying plane in line or close enough with moving target.
Weapon system decides when to actually drop bomb so it will be able to have the range necessary to hit the moving target.
I would think the weapon system also tells the pilot that bomb is deployed so he can go home or go hit something else.

Article didn't say whether the pilot could do multiple targets the same way at the same time.

As to other's comments about doing the same thing with a gun, well guns require to line up perfectly with the target, then aim and hit it with the majority of the ammo missing not to mention making yourself way more vulnerable.  So guns require you to carry a heavy gun and lots of heavy unguided ammo that mostly misses and requires the pilot to fly the target.  Bombs don't waste limited cargo capacity on propellant like guns and missiles or the gun itself.

High speed and altitude make this system be able to hit targets at greater range while reducing vulnerability to many different weapons systems.  Guns are more likely to score hits when you slow down and close on the target which makes you more vulnerable to weapons near the target firing back.

Making bombs more useful means guns become less necessary.  Bombs and missiles combined are making guns on fixed wing aircraft obsolete.  (Except maybe things like Spectres).  By the time lasers become practical, bombs and missiles may have already eliminated guns from jet powered aircraft.

from USAF77's post above:
"Life gets chancy nowdays anytime your lower then 10,000'. Thats the entire idea behind these weapons and delivery systems. Against a halfway decent enemy even the A-10 would have a problem from manpads and advanced AA, the Iraqi's were wet poodles compared to what we might face. "

Yep. What a fucking joke. A LAAR could have strafed that target for way cheaper.

No it wouldn't because A-10's are indestructible. 

There were plenty of misses, near and far, in '91.  They just didn't get the air time.

Ah yes, the ol "aerial weapons delivery is super simple" crowd.

Reminds me of a similar test back in 2013. B-1B dropping on a fast moving boat.
Link









Raytheon glide bomb test.

It's ARF GD. If it isn't something super simple to understand like 'big gun', we shouldn't pay more than what it would cost to blow up the target with tannerite.

I think the accuracy is important.  We want to be able to replace that warhead with concrete and take out the occupants of a vehicle on a crowded city street without any collateral damage.  Fifty feet wouldn't do it.