EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Welcome to the monthly mission report for the Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office. These are the tasks Airmen and civilians progressed on in March.
Flight clearance for LITENING Digital Port variant on the A-10 and Enhanced-LDP on the F-16
Last month, AFSEO approved for flight testing a new upgrade to the latest LITENING variant. The software provides a digital video display in the A-10 cockpit. The A-10 currently can only display analog video. The new display resolution is a considerable improvement for the warfighter. This month, Air National Guard units upgraded their cockpit displays to benefit from this capability. The current clearance gives the ANG maintainers the flexibility to move the pods between F-16 and A-10 aircraft.
Flight clearance of the Trident CERAS Pod for conventional prompt strike
AFSEO gave flight clearance in support of an experimental navigation package within the Trident CERAS POD as a ride along with the currently approved Mk6 guidance system. AFSEO worked to meet the short-notice request because of the limited range time and the importance of Trident testing. As a result, a decision was made to obtain mass properties for weight and center of gravity through experimental testing at Cape Canaveral. There were some uncertainties with the calculated values because pod had not been measured in 10 years.
PDU-5 build-up and mass properties measurements
This testing was accomplished to support the quick reaction certification of the PDU-5/B leaflet dispenser on the B-1B and B-52H. This was requested by AFCENT to sustain support of Army psych-ops. The mass properties such as length, width, weight, center of gravity, etc., were tested. These are the measurements needed to ensure the proper fit and function as well as what is used for calculations when running analysis of the carriage and separations characteristics.
Completion of B61-12 separations testing
This was the sixth and final planned release for B61-12 tail kit separation testing on the F-16. Data analysis confirmed initial indications and the AFSEO portion of flight test for this project is complete. The B61-12 project is part of the B61 life extension program.
Flight Clearance for GBU-31 live warhead testing
The AFSEO provided flight clearance for live warhead testing of the guided bomb unit-31, version 9/b and GBU-31 9B with an FMU-152 (programmable fuze) on the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Engineering effort for SATCOM radio
AFSEO engineering efforts led to the F-15 certification of compatibility of the SATCOM radio using an eight-inch blade antenna with all (Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation on Ordnance) SAFE stores. The radio was tested to ensure it would not hinder any communication with the electrical components on the aircraft. Additionally, the electric fields emanating from the antenna won’t exceed the allowable levels for stores certified as HERO SAFE by the Air Force Safety Center/Air Force Weapons Safety.