AF-1, an F-35A test aircraft, completed the first in-flight release of an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile from the Air Force’s variant of the F-35 strike fighter, announced Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s prime contractor, on Oct 22. Pilot Maj. Matthew Phillips jettisoned the instrumented AIM-120 over the China Lake test range in southern Calif., from one of the aircraft’s two internal weapons bay during the Oct. 19 test, stated the company. The AMRAAM shot came three days after AF-1 dropped a 2,000-pound joint direct attack munition from its left internal weapons bay, marking the F-35A’s first weapons release.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall caught a ride in the front seat of a modified, artificial intelligence-piloted F-16 on May 2, a high-profile show of confidence in the service’s autonomous technologies—and another key step in maturing that technology for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.