F-35B Completes First Flight with British SPEAR 3 Missile
The captive-carry sortie confirmed the missile fit and will feed mission-systems integration and jettison trials, officials said.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Stand-off weapon demonstration shows F-35B integration still alive despite years of delays - Navy Lookout
A first test flight for an F-35B carrying 4 SPEAR-3 stand-off weapons has offered some reassurance that integration remains on track, despite a service entry date still years away. The captive carry sortie at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland is the first tangible demonstration of progress on a programme that has attracted growing concern over […] The post Stand-off weapon demonstration shows F-35B integration still alive despite years of delays fi…
F-35B completes first flight with British SPEAR 3 missile
An F-35B test aircraft has completed its first flight carrying four SPEAR 3 missiles, as part of ongoing trials to integrate the UK’s next-generation precision strike weapon onto the fifth-generation fighter, according to the F-35 Joint Program Office. The flight was conducted at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland by the F-35 Integrated Test Force, with Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Nick Baker of the Air and Space Warfare Centre at t…
A few days after the United Kingdom confirmed the purchase of GBU-53/B SDB II glider bombs as a temporary solution that would provide a greater margin for their development, new images were published showing an F-35B of the U.S. Marine Corps equipped with the new SPEAR 3 missiles, which will be equivalent to [...] The entry A Marine F-35B flew for the first time equipped with the new SPEAR 3 missiles that will equip British poachers first appear…
MBDA’s Spear miniature cruise missile makes debut flight aboard F-35B
European-developed weapon will enter operational use late this decade. Efforts to integrate a new miniature cruise missile with the Lockheed Martin F-35 for the UK and programme partner Italy have advanced, following a first test flight of a B-model aircraft carrying four inert examples of MBDA’s Spear 3. Disclosed on 21 May but having occurred
SPEAR 3 Missile Flies On Board F-35B Lightning II for the First Time
Four SPEAR 3 missiles were carried on board an F-35B from the Integrated Test Force at NAS Patuxent River earlier this year, marking the first time that the new weapon has flown on the fifth generation aircraft. The long awaited news of SPEAR 3’s first flight test on the F-35B – which took place on Jan. 20, 2026 – comes just days after the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed plans to acquire the GBU-53/B StormBreaker, or SDB II, as an interim capab…
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