The first three airborne gunfire bursts from the F-35A’s internal GAU-22/A 25 mm four-barrel gun were successfully fired over the range at Edwards AFB, California, on 30 October 2015. This was the first in a series of tests to evaluate the inflight operation of the gun throughout its employment envelope. One bursts of thirty rounds and two of sixty rounds each were fired. F-35A test aircraft AF-2, a loads-instrumented jet, underwent an extensive structural modification at Edwards to a fully production representative internal gun configuration prior to the ground-based and airborne testing. This was Flight 527 for AF-2. Air Force test pilot Maj. Charles Trickey was at the controls. Gun pod testing on the F-35B/C is scheduled to begin in 2016.
