Scott Nicholas
Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 fighter jet has completed its first live air-to-air kill test on a drone over a military test range off of California’s coastline Thursday.
Lockheed said Monday Maj. Raven LeClair, U.S. Air Force test pilot, fired an AIM-9X missile towards an aerial drone target through the use of the plane’s mission systems sensors identification and targeting capacity to track information to the missile and pass on target information to the missile.
The pilot verified the targeting information through the helmet-mounted display’s high off-boresight features and engaged with the target drone in restricted military sea test range airspace.
“This test represents the culmination of many years of careful planning by combined government and contractor teams,” said LeClair.
“We want to ensure operators will receive the combat capability they need to execute their mission and return home safely – we cannot compromise or falter in delivering this capability.â€
