MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE SUCCESS STORIES
Flight Test Support Case Study
The Issue
In 2012 the Norwegian government was seeking a way to perform qualification testing on their newly developed Joint Strike Missile (JSM). The task, to have the JSM development mature enough for F-35 JSF integration and meet their desired initial operational capability (IOC).
To meet their sovereign requirements, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (NORMOD) needed to complete initial qualification testing on a surrogate aircraft as the F-35 was still under development. In addition, they needed assistance with the development and execution of a qualification plan.
Solution
NORMOD was referred to Lone Star to assist in overall program management. Qualification testing occurred in the United States on Edwards AFB, CA, with an Air Force F-16.
Completing qualification testing required coordination between NORMOD, Kongsberg Defense Systems (KDS) (JSM’s developer/manufacturer), and more than a dozen organizations throughout the U.S. government and Department of Defense (DoD).
Results
Lone Star’s coordination with NORMOD, KDS and various U.S. Government agencies resulted in five successful flight tests being accomplished during the qualification program, culminating in a successful full up system test which destroyed a simulated target at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR).
This test campaign established the technical maturity, Safety Qualification and overall readiness of the JSM to continue with integration in the F-35 JSF which is currently underway.