The airmen at Edwards AFB, Calif., who test parachutes for a living have been practicing their trade with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s IGQ type 6000 parachute. Testers with the 418th Flight Test Squadron each made 10 jumps last month with the new parachute—jumping from a Twin Otter—to check if the canopy meets specifications. The F-35 incorporates the parachute harness unlike the F-16, where pilots wear their harness and hook in once seated in the Viper cockpit.
In a show force over the Pacific, the U.S. conducted separate bilateral exercises with South Korea and Japan in response to North Korea’s May 24 ballistic missile test. The North’s test reportedly included an intercontinental ballistic missile, launched while President Joe Biden flew home from the region. Also on May…