TESTER Naval Air Station Patuxent River
Happy Birthday U.S. Navy
Vol. 72, No. 40
Celebrating 72 Years of Community Partnership
COMFRC thanks employees Page 2
F-35C Lightning II flexes sea legs Page 5
Commandant’s Corner Page 6
October 8, 2015
F-35 external weapons testing makes history, quadruples effectiveness and test efficiency By Sylvia Pierson F-35 Lightning II Naval Variants Public Affairs Officer
T
he F-35 Lightning II Naval Variants test team at the Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (Pax River ITF) added yet another ground-breaking weapons test to its list of milestones — the first-ever external store weapons separation in the history of the entire F-35 Lightning II program. The Pax River ITF test team released four GBU-12 Laser Guided Bomb inert test assets from the F-35C external wing weapons pylons of aircraft CF-02, Sept. 23. Released individually during four test runs on a single flight over the Atlantic Test Ranges (ATR), all weapons separations were successful and confirmed the accuracy of the predicted release trajectory. The quadruple weapons separation also demonstrated the team’s high margin of safety and test efficiency by accomplishing four flights worth of test work in a single flight. Together, engineers in the ATR control room monitored the test flight and reviewed video and telemetry from each GBU-12 separation event to confirm it was safe to proceed to the next release point. The team also saved costs by clearing a range only once rather than four times to accomplish each separation. While flight test programs often rely upon a series of weekly individual separation flights to accommodate engineering analysis and determine if it is safe to proceed to the next test point, the F-35 Weapons Certification process utilizes extensive wind tunnel testing and computer analysis to predict the trajectory of weapons released from the aircraft. Additionally, the F-35 features an on-board instrumentation capability that delivers real-time analysis data to engineers in the control room. Each weapons separation matched simulation models with a high degree of fidelity, which will expedite the clearances of future weapons and employment envelopes. Based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the highly diverse cadre of PAX ITF technicians, maintainers, engineers, support staff and test pilots have flown nearly 500 flights, logged more than 700 flight hours, and achieved almost
U.S. Navy photo
Sept. 23 marked the first time the F-35 Lightning II program conducted an external store weapons separation test. The Pax River ITF test team released four GBU-12 Laser Guided Bomb inert test assets from the F-35C external wing weapon pylons of aircraft CF-02 during flight 394. The team released the weapons individually during four test runs on a single flight over the Atlantic Test Ranges, demonstrating their test efficiency by accomplishing four flights worth of test work in a single flight. Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe. 3,400 test points since January 2015. The team’s five F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) and four F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) aircraft have supported a wide array of test flights, including a very successful block of F-35B weapons separations, which included the first AIM-120 shots from stations 4 and 8 of the internal bomb racks, and the final inert SDD store separation test with an AIM-120 released from an F-35C, Sept.19. The team also began multi-phase testing of the 500-pound dual mode F-35 Block 3F, U.K.-unique Paveway IV precision-guided bomb June 12. Other milestones include the June
13 separation of an AMRAAM/AIM-120 instrumented mass simulation vehicle (IMSV) from station 4 during a pushover (a less than 1.0g maneuver). Additional weapons separation testing during the third week of June featured three AMRAAM/AIM-120 separations, a GBU-12 laser-guided separation and a GBU-32 JDAM separation. The team also executed one of the AMRAAM/AIM-120 separations and both the GBU-12 and GBU-32 separations with the F-35B external gun pod installed. The team twice conducted multi-weapons separations during one sortie and, by the last week in June, the team had conducted nine weapons separations in 15 days.
Pax River celebrates Navy’s 240th birthday By Shawn Graham NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs
N
AS Patuxent River is celebrating the Navy’s 240th birthday with an entire week of activities and events, Oct. 10-17. This year’s guest speaker at the Navy Ball is Rear Adm. Michael Manazir. Manazir currently serves as the Director, Air Warfare (OPNAV N98) on the staff of the Chief of Naval Opera-
tions (CNO). In this capacity, he is responsible for the development, programming, and budgeting of all U.S. Naval Aviation warfighting requirements, resourcing and manpower. Sailors and civilian personnel are encouraged to attend the several events to celebrate what the Navy means to the Patuxent River Area and to the world. Scheduled events include: • Oct. 10: Navy vs. Notre Dame
fooball game 3:30 p.m., Liberty Center • Oct. 13: Navy Birthday Cake Cutting Ceremony 11 a.m., River’s Edge • Oct. 13: Navy Ball 6 p.m., River’s Edge. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact your command’s Navy Ball representative • Oct. 14: CO/CMC Command Canoe Challenge 9 a.m., Basin Marina • Oct. 15: Free movie matinee; Top Gun, 6:30 p.m., Center Stage Theater
• Oct. 17: Navy Birthday Concert, Parade Field, across from Building 409. This is a free event and features Josh Turner, Parmalee and Natalie Stoval. Gates open 5 p.m. Since 1972, each Chief of Naval Operations has encouraged a Navywide birthday celebration to enhance a greater appreciation of our Navy heritage, and to provide a positive influence toward pride and professionalism in the service.
U.S. Navy photo by Shawn Graham
Capt. Heidi Fleming, NAS Patuxent River commanding officer presents a first place trophy to Lt. Col. John Neville, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 commanding officer following the first ever CO/CMC Canoe Challenge Oct. 8, 2014.