http://www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081208/tx-...dmartin-f35.htmLockheed Martin F-35 Fighter Achieves Another Milestone: In-Flight Operation of Integrated Avionics Aboard 'CATBird'
Posted 08 December 2008 @ 04:23 pm EST
FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lockheed Martin's(NYSE: LMT) Cooperative Avionics Test Bed, or "CATBird," has begun in-flightintegration and verification of the F-35 Lightning II mission systems suite,launching another stage of risk reduction for the world's newest fighter.
The CATBird, a highly modified 737 airliner, will test the avionics suitethoroughly for several months before the complete system begins flying in anF-35 aircraft. The entire F-35 avionics system is slated for airborne testingin the CATBird in 2009.
"The F-35 mission systems suite is the most sophisticated and powerfulavionics package of any fighter in the world," said Dan Crowley, LockheedMartin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "The CATBirdis a shared industry and government investment that continues our risk-reduction work as we prove that the F-35's advanced avionics work asadvertised, three years before the first F-35 goes operational. This is thestart of what will no doubt be an exciting period of validation and confidencebuilding regarding the capabilities of this 5th generation, multi-role, multi-service aircraft."
The F-35's avionics include on-board sensors that will enable pilots tostrike fixed or moving ground targets in high-threat environments, day ornight, in any weather, while simultaneously targeting and eliminating advancedairborne threats.
The CATBird's 40th flight, on Tuesday, Nov. 25, was its first configuredas a complete classified mission systems laboratory. All test objectives weremet in the 2.4 hour sortie.
"We were able to transmit using the radar for 23 minutes and selected sixdifferent TACAN (tactical control and navigation) stations, with datadisplayed on the F-35 cockpit that resides in the CATBird," said Eric Branyan,Lockheed Martin vice president of F-35 Air System Development. "The resultsmatched our predictions."
The first Lightning II aircraft to fly with the full avionics package willbe a short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B, called BF-4. All previous F-35 testaircraft are "flight sciences" aircraft, designed to validate the fighter'saerodynamic performance. BF-4 is the first F-35 "mission systems" aircraft andis scheduled to make its first flight in mid-2009.
The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter.Three F-35 variants derived from a common design, developed together and usingthe same sustainment infrastructure worldwide will replace at least 13 typesof aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrialpartners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-RoyceFighter Engine Team F136.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global securitycompany that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engagedin the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainmentof advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporationreported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.
F-35 and Lightning II are trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation. For additional information including photo and caption, visit our Web site:
http://www.lockheedmartin.comSOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
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