Lightning Bursts

Maj. Charles Trickey, a test pilot with the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AFB, Calif., fires the GAU-22/A 25mm gun from AF-2, an F-35A test aircraft, over a California test range on Oct. 30, 2015. It was the first time the Joint Strike Fighter’s internal gun was fired while airborne, according to a release from the F-35 Joint Program Office. Testers fired one 30-round burst and two 60-round bursts from the aircraft’s four-barrel Gatling gun, which is integrated into the airframe to reduce its radar cross section.