The airmen at Edwards AFB, Calif., who test parachutes for a living have been practicing their trade with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s IGQ type 6000 parachute. Testers with the 418th Flight Test Squadron each made 10 jumps last month with the new parachute—jumping from a Twin Otter—to check if the canopy meets specifications. The F-35 incorporates the parachute harness unlike the F-16, where pilots wear their harness and hook in once seated in the Viper cockpit.
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 suffered an engine failure flying over Africa in May 2023, forcing the drone’s pilot to down it in the ocean where it was not recovered, according to a new Air Force report. The cost of the mishap was more than $21 million.