{"id":54837,"date":"2017-09-26T20:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/26\/f-35-program-office-to-finish-tests-of-key-weapon-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:56:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:56:54","slug":"f-35-program-office-to-finish-tests-of-key-weapon-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2017\/09\/26\/f-35-program-office-to-finish-tests-of-key-weapon-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"F-35 program office to finish tests of key weapon this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 By the end of the year, the F-35 program office will wrap up testing of a key munition that will allow U.S. Air Force F-35A jets to hit moving targets, the Pentagon\u2019s F-35 program head said Sept. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director of the Air Force\u2019s F-35 integration office told Defense News in February that the service hoped to integrate Raytheon\u2019s GBU-49 munition into the \u201cA\u201d model\u2019s weapons loadout in time for full combat capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without it, the service would be left dependent on a range of munitions without \u201clead laser capability,\u201d which allows the weapon to calculate the path of a moving target. GBU-49 has that ability built into its front end, while the F-35\u2019s other munitions require that a pilot estimate where a target will move and aim there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an exclusive interview last week at the Air Force Association\u2019s annual conference, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, head of the F-35 joint program office, that the effort is coming along quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force\u2019s F-35A is now able to carry the GBU-49 as long as it has 3F software, and the JPO has proven the jet can safely and accurately drop the bomb through weapons delivery tests, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have done fit checks, we have done all of the other integration, all of the normal weapons integration \u2014 form, fit, function \u2014 of GBU-49 on the F-35A. And that was a collaborative effort of industry and the government together, which is a good news story,\u201d Winter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t