Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, August 10, 2012

F-35 Milestone – Stealth Fighter Successfully Drops Bomb While in Flight

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 successfully released a weapon while airborne, the first time the stealth fighter has dropped a bomb while in flight.

The test, using an inert 1,000 lb. GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), was done Wednesday, Stephen O’Bryan, Lockheed’s Vice president for F-35 program integration, told Defence Watch.

“It is a big deal and it speaks to the maturity and growing maturity of the system,” he said.

Traveling at 400 knots at an altitude of 4,200 feet, a short take-off and vertical landing F-35 variant, released the munition over water in an Atlantic test range.

“While this weapons separation test is just one event in a series of hundreds of flights and thousands of test points that we are executing this year, it does represent a significant entry into a new phase of testing for the F-35 program,” Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of test for F-35 naval variants, said in a statement.

The release was the first time for any version of the F-35 to conduct an airborne weapon separation, as well as the first from an internal weapons bay for a fighter aircraft designated for the U.S. Marine Corps, the United Kingdom and Italy, the U.S. military noted.
“[Using an internal weapons bay] speaks to how much capability the JSF is going to bring to the troops,” Dan Levin, Lockheed Martin test pilot for the mission, said in a statement.

An aerial weapons separation test checks for proper release of the weapon from its carriage system and trajectory away from the aircraft.

O’Bryan told Defence Watch that the testing of the F-35 aircraft are progressing well. The planes have been operated at above 40,000 fleet and at speeds of 1.6 Mach, he added. “The plane is flying extremely well,” said O’Bryan.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese 

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