STOVL Version A Step Closer To Extended Range Flights
A short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Lockheed
Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter has become the first F-35
to complete an aerial refueling test using the Navy- and Marine
Corps-style probe-and-drogue refueling system. Last week's
successful mission is the first in a short series of tests that
will clear the STOVL F-35B variant for extended-range flights,
particularly to its primary test site at Naval Air Station Patuxent
River, MD.
"The F-35 program is on the cusp of a tremendous expansion in
flight test as a large number of new aircraft enter the test fleet
this year and early next year," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin
executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "This
milestone will help ensure that we fill the pipeline between Fort
Worth and Pax River with F-35s and maintain our flight-test
tempo."
During Thursday's flight, the F-35B designated BF-2 (the second
STOVL flight test aircraft), began a series of tests in which fuel
is uploaded into the aircraft at 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 feet, at
speeds ranging from 200 to 250 knots. The pilot on the initial
F-35B aerial refueling flight was U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph T.
"O.D." Bachmann.
The refueling mission also marked the first time a Lockheed
Martin KC-130J tanker has been used to refuel an F-35. Since
deployment to Iraq in 2005 the KC-130J has offloaded more than 186
million pounds of fuel during combat operations. Previous refueling
missions with the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant
were accomplished with a KC-135 tanker. To date, the first F-35A
has received approximately 110,000 pounds of fuel during aerial
refuelings.
Probe-and-drogue refueling employs a flexible hose that trails
from the tanker aircraft. The basketlike drogue at the end of the
hose connects to the receiving aircraft's probe, which, in the case
of the F-35, resides on the right side of the forward fuselage and
retracts when not in use. The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and the air
forces of many other countries use the probe/drogue system, while
the U.S. Air Force refuels its aircraft via a rigid flying boom
that inserts into a receptacle on the receiving airplane.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-22 are the world's only 5th
generation fighters, uniquely characterized by a combination of
advanced stealth with supersonic speed and high agility, sensor
fusion, network-enabled capabilities and advanced sustainment. The
three F-35 variants are derived from a common design, are being
developed together and will use the same sustainment infrastructure
worldwide, bringing economies of commonality and scale.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal
industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two
separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the
Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team
F136.