First Images of F-35 Carrying AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile Released | Aviation

The U.S. Navy has started the testing of the LRASM anti-ship weapon on the F-35C, with the first captive carry test flights in early September to evaluate the integration of the weapon and the airframe.

The U.S. military has released the first images of the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) being carried in flight by an F-35C test aircraft from Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. The two flights captured in the photos, which took place on Sep. 9 and 10, 2024, mark the beginning of the testing of the weapon on the F-35C.

The first test flights as part of the integration effort conducted by the Pax River F-35 Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) showed the F-35C carrying externally two LRASMs on the innermost hardpoints, in addition to two inert AIM-9X on the wingtips. Interestingly, this is the first time the LRASM is seen with the same white paint of the JASSM from which it is derived, compared to previous photos where it was usually painted black.

These trials are usually called ‘captive carriage’ trials and are meant to test the weapon’s impact on the airframe in different flight envelopes and parameters, and verify both the…