F-35B First Aerial Weapons Release

On Aug. 8, an F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft completed the program's first aerial weapons release. The aircraft (BF-3) dropped an inert 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition over an Atlantic test range from an internal weapons bay. Internal weapons carriage allows the F-35 to maintain a low-observable profile when combat loaded. The F-35B is a short take-off and vertical landing-capable fighter aircraft, designed for use by the U.S. Marine Corps as well as defense partners in the United Kingdom and Italy.

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[0Tanaka0]

Epic.

[Wawaweewaj]

its pointed that way so that the missile can have a better angle in the even of a dogfight.

[drbackjack]

It was a test, fail

[Stan Klein Gunnewiek]

BF-03 on the wing :D

[pencilpauli]

But the UK government dropped a clanger when they ordered this turkey.

Should have gone with the C variant

[SylvanisFM]

external hardpoints, fail.

[densityduckk]

SOMEBODY SET UP US THE BOMB!!



[hockeyman506]

Flying with an open bay door and dropping an object from an aircraft has a pretty big impact on the aerodynamic profile of of the vehicle. And the drag and flow separation off the ordinance also messes with the ambient conditions.

The test is a way to make sure all the mechanics are working properly, that the drop doesn't negatively impact the plane's flight profile, and to verify and validate the simulations and tests done on the ground.