U.S. Air Force: Ground testing for F-35 gun conducted at Edwards AFB
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force is in the process of testing the F-35A Lightning II’s newest munitions asset, a four-barrel Gatling gun that fires 25 mm rounds known as the GAU-22/A.
Unlike the Marine Corps and Navy variants, the GAU-22/A is integrated internally to the F-35A. In the other variants, the gun is mounted to the outside as a pod. A similar weapon, GAU-12, has been used on the AV-8B Harrier.
The first phase of testing started June 9, when the first shots were fired on the ground at the Edwards Gun Harmonizing Range. The test team hopes to finish ground testing sometime during August and start the airborne phase in late September. An operational gun capability will be added with a future block of software, which is in the beginning stages of testing at Edwards AFB.
Update #1: Watch the F-35 test its onboard cannon for the 1st time -- Business Insider
Update #2: Air Force tests internal integration of Gatling gun on F-35A -- UPI
WNU Editor: How can this be a better plane than the A-10? According to Guns.com, the F-35 cannon can fire 55 rounds per second, but .... and this is a BIG but .... it must fire relatively slowly to conserve ammunition for the simple reason that the F-35 can hold only a 220-round magazine. In short .... if the F-35 fires 55 rounds per second continuously, the F-35 would run out of ammunition within four seconds. Contrast this with the A-10 which can hold 1,350 rounds.
9 comments:
That's a joke right? Next you're going to tell me it only caries 15 minutes of fuel?
WNU Editor,
The F-35's role in a Ground Support Operation is to use it's integrated sensor and ELINT suite to identify at long range, via networked arrays to all satellite, drone, etc assets in the area,
A heavy Taliban MG position killing Allied Ground Forces,
And then, supression the Taliban gunfire with a carefully targetted spam strike against the Taliban's smartphones, followed up with a close in Twitter strike, followed by a precise volley of Imogee's,
While at the same time, seamlessly downloading the latest American CIA/NSA/Pentagon Vunderkind's Mistress authored Hailiography to the Pilots Kindle,
While generating massive and ongoing profits for the MIC and thousands of lucrative jobs for the Generals, Admirals and Politicians on board with the project when retired,
Sometime in 2027 when the F-35 is combat ready.
All the A-10 can do is kill Taliban now, at a tiny fraction of the F-35's Operating Cost.
Jay .... when I do not hear from you (and a few others) for a while I start to wonder and hope that everything is OK. And then you guys just pop up and give me a good laugh. :)
Haha! I love it!
God, why do they still bother... Unless I am mistaken, F-35 is one of the American defense industry's worst debacles in a while, and by this point just about everyone is talking about it. You'd think it would cause them to take some time out to try and fix some of the issues, at least, if they can't afford to scrap it altogether.
Jay,
Fantastic DOD press release.
Excellent handle on the situation Jay. The enemy will be completely taken off guard by the hail of emojis. The seemingly random combinations of thumbs up and smiley faces will be devastating.
Seriously though, is 220 rounds enough in short bursts to take out an average convoy or more than a handful of gun emplacements or the like? The rounds are HE and probably pretty potent so a few per target would probably be pretty efective. If the guidance is good enough a few rounds per burst would probably be enough to take out most airborne targets. It's conceivable that with better guidance and more explosive power the 220 rounds could be more effective than 1000?
You would think they would invent an all new type of gun and new ammunition instead of some other standard issue cannon for such an important program...
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