Sat, Sep 10, 2005
Successful First Flights Conducted For F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter
Initial flight testing has begun of
the advanced fire-control radar being developed for the Lockheed
Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. The radar is
designed to enable F-35 pilots to effectively engage air and ground
targets at long range, while also providing outstanding situational
awareness for enhanced
survivability.
Designated the AN/APG-81, the active electronically scanned
array radar was first flown on Aug. 23 and 25 on Northrop Grumman's
BAC-1-11 testbed aircraft. During the flights, the all-aspect
search, air-track and synthetic-aperture radar mode capabilities of
the radar were successfully evaluated against airborne and
ground-based targets.
"The outstanding performance of the radar on these initial
flights underscores the intense development effort under way on the
F-35 mission avionics and marks the culmination of a successful
design, hardware build, software development and systems
integration process," said John C. Johnson, vice president of
Combat Avionics Systems at Northrop Grumman. "We expect to
accelerate the validation of the radar performance during the
flight-test program and progress with the systems-integration
effort ahead of schedule."
The radar's first flight tests in the BAC-1-11 aircraft were
conducted over the local airspace in the vicinity of Northrop
Grumman's Electronic Systems sector headquarters complex adjacent
to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. In
November, the first F-35 radar system will be delivered to Lockheed
Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Tex., where it will be
installed into the JSF Mission Systems Integration Lab and tested
with other F-35 mission-avionics systems.
The F-35 is a stealthy, supersonic multi-role fighter designed
to replace a wide range of aging fighter and strike aircraft.
Three variants derived from a common design will ensure the F-35
meets the performance needs of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine
Corps, U.S. Navy and allied defense forces worldwide, while staying
within strict affordability targets.
In addition to providing the radar, Northrop Grumman's
Electronic Systems sector is providing the AN/AAS-37
electro-optical distributed aperture system for the F-35. The
distributed aperture system will provide F-35 pilots with a unique
protective sphere around the aircraft for missile warning,
navigation support and night
operations.
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]
Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative
See All