The flying qualities test series consisted of six flights from Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland, between October 5 and November 2 with a total flying time of 11.2 hours.
The aircraft flew at altitudes ranging from 5,000 feet to 35,000 feet and at speeds approaching Mach 1.0. During each flight, the Super Hornet was refueled in the air by a support tanker to enable the aircraft to reach all the required speeds and altitudes at which JAGM had to be tested, according to the company news release.
"The F/A-18E/F presents some of the most challenging environments for JAGM. Collecting vibration, acoustic and shock data in these environments for 11.2 hours of flight with no anomalies or problems represents a very successful beginning of flight test efforts that will continue into the EMD phase to integrate JAGM on the Super Hornet," Hady Mourad, JAGM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, was quoted as saying in the release.
The JAGM test articles were six instrumented measurement vehicles (IMVs) equivalent in weight, size and dimensions to tactical JAGM rounds and outfitted with resistive temperature devices, acoustic sensors and accelerometers to measure the flight environments experienced by the launchers and the missiles.
Three IMVs were loaded onto each of two new Navy fixed-wing triple-rail launchers designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Marvin Engineering to carry JAGM on the F/A-18E/F. Fully outfitted, the Super Hornet could be configured to carry 18 JAGMs, as opposed to just four of the Maverick air-to-ground missiles that JAGM will replace, the report added.
For the flight series, the two 'three-packs' of JAGM IMVs were carried at the most challenging stations—outboard and midboard—in varying load-out combinations with other weapon systems including bombs, anti-radiation missiles and air-to-air missiles, as well as external fuel tanks.
Currently, the threshold aviation platforms include the US Army’s AH-64D Apache attack helicopter, the Army’s Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP) Sky Warrior unmanned aerial system, the US Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopter, the US Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk armed reconnaissance helicopter and the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter. The tri-service Joint Strike Fighter also is under consideration as an objective platform.
The initial operational capability of JAGM on the AH-64D, AH-1Z and F/A-18E/F is scheduled for 2016, and the IOC for the MH-60R and ERMP is 2017
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