Now If It Can Only Survive the Budget Axe:

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

While in Washington the Joint Strike Fighter appears to be on the Quadrennial Defense Review cutting-room floor, members of the JSF integrated test force at Edwards AFB, Calif., are working hard to develop a means for the F-35 to withstand deadly chemical and biological assaults it may encounter in a future war. Testers are using a retired F-16 as a JSF stand-in during a series of three biological trials—involving a harmless spore with similarities to anthrax injected into the engine to contaminate environmental controls—and four simulated chemical agent trials. The JSF is the first fighter to have a requirement to survive chem-bio attack.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org