The engineers at Arnold Engineering Development Center, Arnold AFB, Tenn., recently completed aerodynamic loads testing using a 12-percent scale model of the F-35 Lightning II (alias Joint Strike Fighter) in the facility’s 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin is using the data to build the new fighter’s final aerodynamic database. Engineers were testing load capacity on the wings, overall aircraft, and the horizontal tail, using “hundreds of pressure taps all over the fuselage, the wings, and the tail,” said Marc Skelley, DOD project manager at AEDC. The center plans to run the last test later this year.
KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s
July 8, 2025
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”