The Air Force is seeking information from the munitions industry on ammunition for the gun system on the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the close air support replacement for the A-10 and F-16. The rub is that the ammo must be lethal in both air-to-ground and air-to-air combat environments, according to a Request for Information, modified May 19 to remove the words “frangible armor piercing.” The USAF variant of the F-35 has a GAU-22A gun system that takes 25mm ammunition. According to the RFI, “none of the existing 25mm combat ammunition within the DOD inventory (PGU-20/25/32) can achieve the USAF required lethality.” It goes on to note that the limited ammo storage capacity on this new fighter make a multi-role, dual-purpose projectile design critical. And, any proposed ammo must be relatively mature technology. Response date is June 13.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…