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Washington D.C., [Jan. 16, 2015] – All three variants of the F-35
Lightning II continue on a path toward full weapons certification by
successfully completing numerous milestones during the previous four
months. Highlights included validating 2B weapons software and
successfully executing several weapons separation and engagement tests.
The most recent accomplishments are in support of the first military
service Initial Operational Capability (IOC) declaration by the U.S.
Marine Corps in July.

The program also surpassed 25,000 combined flight hours in December
with F-35 military fleet aircraft (16,200 hours) nearly doubling the
System Development and Demonstration (SDD) test aircraft (8,950) hours.
Comprehensive flight test on the F-35A variant GAU-22 25mm gun system is
scheduled to begin mid-year at Edwards AFB, Calif., and will include
ground fire tests, muzzle calibration, flight test integration and
in-flight operational tests. The 25mm missionized gun pod carried
externally, centerline mounted on the F-35B and F-35C also begins
testing this year to meet U.S. service’s desired schedule for full
warfighting capability software known as 3F. The 3F software is
currently planned for delivery with the Low Rate Initial Production nine
(LRIP 9) U.S. aircraft in 2017.

"The weapons development program continues to track forward on the
plan laid out by the Technical Baseline Review approved in 2010,” said
Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Officer. "All weapons
tests needed for 2B software, the software the U.S. Marine Corps will
use to declare IOC, is complete and will be ready to go for their combat
capability certification.”

Specific F-35 Flight Test accomplishments during the past four months include:

· First F-35 day and night Mission Effectiveness Close Air Support (CAS) flights completing 2B CAS testing (Oct. 21)

· Completion of live fire testing on an F-35B ground test article. (Sept. 9)

· Successful first (Sept. 9) and night flight (Sept. 18) with the Generation III helmet-mounted display with 3iR4 software

· Completion of final buffet, loads and high-angle-of-attack testing required for F-35A Block 2B software (Nov. 18)

· Successfully launched an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air
Missile (AMRAAM) from an F-35C, marking the last weapon separation test
needed for Block 2B software (Sept. 30)

· F-35C set a record for 17 sorties in a day for a single F-35
aircraft (Nov.5) and a record 22 sorties with F-35C aircraft CF-3 and
CF-5 combined aboard USS Nimitz for F-35C Sea Trials off the coast of
San Diego (Nov. 3-14)

· First separation test of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, a 250-lb.
precision-guided glide weapon (Oct. 21) and multi-separation test (Nov.
20)

· First F-35 external flutter tests flown with the AIM-132 Advanced
Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) (Oct. 29) and Paveway IV
missiles (Nov. 13)

· Three Weapon(s) Delivery Accuracy (WDA) live fire events completed
in a week. The F-35 employed two AIM-120 AMRAAMs and one Joint Direct
Attack Munition (JDAM). These events included the first
supersonic-guided missile launch and the first JDAM release on target
coordinates generated from the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS)
(Nov. 18-25 )