Friday, January 20, 2017

Bombs away at Eglin

Live GBU-12s loaded on F-35A
Air Force photo
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 33rd Fighter Wing loaded and released the Air Education and Training Command’s first live bombs from an F-35A here, January 17. Six aircraft were loaded with armed GBU-12s, and two bombs were released over the Eglin range. The GBU-12 is a 500-pound laser guided bomb. The F-35 can carry a combined payload of 2.3K pounds of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions internally, with an extended capacity of munitions on each wing. While this is the first live bomb to be loaded into an F-35A here, weapons personnel also regularly load the 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition and the AIM-120 missile as part of their training and readiness. (Source: 33rd Fighter Wing, 01/20/17)