F-35B and F-35C Lightning II weapons testing is now under way at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division test facility at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The tests will include fit checks, captive carry flights (as shown here), and ground pit drops, all of which will lead to aerial drop tests later this year. In this photo, taken 19 December 2011, Marine Corps Maj. C. R. Clift flies a dynamic loads test in an F-35B test aircraft with a 1,000-lb inert test GBU-32 satellite-guided bomb loaded in the aircraft’s internal weapons bay.
