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The U.S. Air Forces F-35 fighter jet launched its first in-flight missile in a key software test, the service announced.
The Lockheed Martin Corp.-made F-35A on June 5 fired a Raytheon Co.-made AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile above Naval Air Station Point Mugu, a test range in the Pacific Ocean, according to a release from the service.
The exercise was the first to perform a launch-to-eject communications sequence and will lead to targeted launches later this year as part of the software release known as Block 2B, the service said.
The event marks a turning point in the aircrafts development, Charlie Wagner, the services F-35 weapons director, said in the June 7 release. The AIM-120 launch is one small but critical increment toward proving the single-engine jets ability to fly combat operations, he said.
The Marine Corps version of the jet, called the F-35B, which can take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane, is set to begin operational flights by December 2015; the Air Forces by December 2016 and the Navys by February 2019, according to information released last week by the Defense Department.
The schedule has been delayed by about three years due in part to problems developing the fifth-generation fighters software.
F-35A completes first in-flight missile launch | Canadian Aviation News
