On 23 March an F-35C Lightning II dropped the first AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) in the area above theAtlantic Test Ranges.
The CF-05 aircraft made a clean release of the approximately 1.000-pound air-to-surface guided bomb from one of the internal holds, explained US Navy commander Ted "Dutch" Dyckman, the F-35 program test pilot who carried out the mission.
The JSOW is a medium range weapon suitable for any type of clash, which allows the aircraft to stay out of the threat posed by typical enemy anti-aircraft defenses and at the same time to engage and destroy targets. Potential and survivability offer a decisive advantage over potential adversaries.
The joint team F-35 Lightning II Pax River ITF, assigned to theAir Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, released a JSOW bomb during the flight. During 2016, the team will carry out more JSOW bomb drops. The US government, military staff and industrial partners are involved in the different phases of the F-3 Block 35F capability testing program.
JSOW is currently integrated and operational with the F-16, F / A18, B-52, F-15E, B-1B and B-2 aircraft. The integration process with the F-35 Lightning II is in progress. The JSOW program is a joint program of the US Navy and the US Air Force, with the Navy in the lead role.
