USMC's F-35B can fire missiles when it comes online

It is still up in the air whether the US Marine Corps will have combat-ready Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs by its July 1 deadline for initial operational capability (IOC), but the first 10 jets are now fully cleared to fire weapons.

The portion of the 2B software that manages weapons separation has completed the necessary testing, the Pentagon’s Joint Program Office (JPO) announced on 15 January. The F-35B’s software was validated after several weapons separation tests

“The weapons development program continues to track forward on the plan laid out by the technical baseline review approved in 2010,” Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 programme executive officer, says in a statement.

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