美 Lockheed Martin F-35B (BF-04), 항전장비 장착 초도비행 실시...

 

美 Lockheed Martin 이 제작하고 있는 F-35 JSF 의 B형 (STOVL) 4호기 BF-04 가 AN/APG-81 AESA radar 와 EOTS 그리고

각종 항전장비들을 장착하고 초도비행을 성공적으로 실시했다는 소식입니다. 이번 초도비행에 장착된 상세 항전장비들은 아래

소개하는 제작사 공식 발표문을 참조하시면 됩니다.

 

이번 초도비행을 실시한 BF-04 기에는 [항전소프트웨어 Block 0.5] version 이 올려진 상태에서 장착 되어진 각종 항전장비들

에 대한 시험을 실시했다고 합니다. 약 54분의 초도비행이었다고 하는데, 항전장비들에 대한 테스트로는 충분치 않은 시간으로

보여지며, 일단 모든 항전장비들을 장착하고 초도비행을 실시한 것에 그 의미를 부여해야 할 것으로 생각합니다.

 

한편, 제작사가 공개한 BF-04 초도비행 사진을 참고하자면, 기수 하단의 EOTS, EO-DAS 는 장착이 안된 것으로 보여집니다.

이 부분은 제작사 발표문과 함께 추후 확인이 필요한 부분으로 보여집니다. 

 

사실 이번 BF-04 에 대한 항전장비 장착과 초도비행은 당초 계획된 일정에서 거의 1년여가 지연되었다는 점을 된 참조한다면,

앞으로 실시할 시험비행 일정은 매우 빡빡할 것으로 생각됩니다. BF-04 기는 Patuxent River 해군기지로 이동해서 앞서 도착한

3대의 F-35B (1, 2, 3호기) 들과 합류, 다음 시험비행을 진행할 예정입니다.

 

이제 F-35 JSF 양산 모델로써 초도비행을 실시한 시제기는 A형 (CTOL) AA-01, B형 (STOVL) BF-01, BF-02, BF-03, BF-04 등

모두 5대가 됩니다. 여기서 AA-01 기의 경우 그동안 약 90회 이상의 시험비행을 실시하고 곧 은퇴할 예정이니, 앞으로 남는 것은

4대인 셈입니다.

 

물론 C형 1호기도 작년에 출고 행사를 거행하고 곧 초도비행을 실시 한다고 하지만, 최근 개발비와 1기당 획득단가의 지속적인

상승으로 인해 JSF 가 겪고 있는 불확실성을 감안한다면, 시험비행 일정 역시 매우 더딘 것이 아닌가 생각됩니다.

 

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First Lockheed Martin Mission Systems F-35 Enters Flight Test

 

Fort Worth, Texas, April 7th, 2010 -- The first mission systems-equipped Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter flew for the first time today, ushering in what will be the most powerful and comprehensive sensor package ever to fly in a fighter.

 

During the flight, F-35 Test Pilot David Nelson climbed to 15,500 feet (4,700 meters), verified engine response at varying throttle settings, performed a series of flight-qualities maneuvers and checked the operation of the aircraft’s mission systems. The flight out of Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant began at 10:04 a.m. CDT and concluded at 10:59 a.m.

 

"Today’s flight initiates a level of avionics capability that no fighter has ever achieved," said Eric Branyan, Lockheed Martin F-35 deputy program manager. "The F-35’s next-generation sensor suite enables a new capability for multi role aircraft, collecting vast amounts of data and fusing the information into a single, highly comprehensible display that will enable the pilot to make faster and more effective tactical decisions."

 

The F-35’s avionics, or mission systems, also process and apply data from a wide array of off-board sensors based on the land, in the air or at sea, enabling the jet to perform command-and-control functions while providing unprecedented situational awareness to air and surface forces.

 

The F-35's full mission systems suite includes:

 

→ Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar

Long-range, multiple simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting; SAR mapping

→ Lockheed Martin Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS)

Long-range, passive infrared search and track, air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting capabilities

→ Northrop Grumman Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (EO-DAS)

Passive, spherical, long-range threat detection; source of infrared video and night-vision projection onto pilot’s helmet visor for spherical view around aircraft

→ BAE Systems Electronic Warfare (EW) system

Simultaneous geo-location of multiple threats and targets

→VSI Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS)

Helmet with integrated, virtual head-up display, targeting information, look-shoot capability and video/night vision projected onto the helmet visor

→ Northrop Grumman Integrated Communication, Navigation & Identification (ICNI)

Friend-or-foe identification; automatic acquisition of fly-to points; secure multi-wave, multiband, multimode wireless communications and data links

→ Lockheed Martin Integrated Core Processor (ICP)

Supports radar, EOTS and DAS sensor processing, navigation, stores management fire control and fusion of sensor and off-board information

→ Honeywell Inertial Navigation System

→ Raytheon Global Positioning System

 

F-35 BF-4, a short takeoff/ vertical landing (STOVL) variant, will begin testing with the AESA radar, EW, ICNI, ICP, GPS, INS and HMDS, then integrate the remaining sensors as flight testing progresses. F-35C carrier variant and F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant test aircraft will be similarly mission systems-equipped, with mission systems commonality among the three variants near 100 percent. High avionics commonality is an enabler of rapid training, interoperability, and lower production and support costs.

 

F-35 avionics already have undergone more than 100,000 hours of laboratory testing, including sensor-fusion testing in the program’s Cooperative Avionics Test Bed, a highly modified 737 airliner incorporating the entire F-35 mission systems suite, including an F-35 cockpit. F-35 software has demonstrated remarkable stability, and sensors have met or exceeded performance predictions.

 

BF-4 is scheduled to fly to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., where it will join three other F-35Bs currently undergoing flight testing. BF-4’s general test objectives include providing data for mission systems Block 0.5 functionality in the F-35 flight environment to evaluate hardware and software implementation and integration, and providing data to support mission systems component development.

 

The Block 0.5 software incorporates important capabilities, including air-to-air search and synthetic aperture radar modes, identification friend/foe transponder, integrated UHF/VHF radios, electronic warfare radar warning receiver, and navigation functions. Information is presented to the pilot through state-of-the-art cockpit and helmet displays.

 

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and lower operational and support costs. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.

 

  F-35B BF-04 First Flight with Mission Systems. ⓒ Lockheed Martin