Aircraft

Lockheed Martin has begun flight testing the electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in a surrogate aircraft because of delays to the Co-operative Avionics Testbed (CATBird), a modified Boeing 737-300 that will be used to test the JSF mission system.

Flight testing of the EOTS began late last month using a Rockwell Sabreliner owned by Lockheed and based in Phoenix, Arizona. The forward-looking infrared sensor is mounted under the fuselage, and sensor operator and test director workstations are installed in the cabin.

The F-35 EOTS is the first to combine an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor with a targeting FLIR using the same mid-wave, large-format focal plane array, says Don Bolling, advanced target systems business development. The system will detect airborne targets at long range as an IRST then transition to air-to-air FLIR imaging mode for target identification. Air-to-ground FLIR modes include multi-target tracking.

Flights on the Sabreliner will continue until February next year, and testing of the EOTS integrated with the other F-35 sensors on the CATBird is now planned for the second quarter of 2008, says Bolling. The system is planned to fly on the F-35 for the first time early in 2009. Under current plans, all F-35s will be fitted with the EOTS, which is mounted in a stealthy chin turret.

• JSF programme begins to accelerate
• First flight for CATBird after three-year refit