Weapons At Last

The Joint Strike Fighter program this week conducted its first in-air missile release, F-35 officials announced in a statement today. The workhorse of the F-35A test aircraft fleet, a jet known as AF-1, launched a test-instrumented Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, on June 5, according to the statement.

The milestone is an early step into developing weapons capabilities for all three variants of the JSF jet, none of which are currently equipped to carry and operate weapons. The Marine Corps expects to be the first military service to declare initial operational capability in late 2015, at which point its F-35B aircraft will run on software Block 2B and will be able to hold and shoot limited types of weapons.

The missile was launched from the F-35's internal weapons bay over the Point Mugu Sea Test Range in California. Flight testing for the Air Force's conventional-takeoff-and-landing version of the aircraft, the F-35A, is based out of Edwards Air Force Base, CA.

"This is the first launch where the F-35 and AIM-120 [AMRAAM] demonstrated a successful launch-to-eject communications sequence and fired the rocket motor after launch -- paving the way for targeted launches later this year in support of Block 2B fleet release capability," the statement reads.

The Joint Strike Fighter is designed to carry 18,000 pounds of ordnance using 10 weapon stations, according to the release.