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The US Marine Corps' F-35B just made history by firing its gun pod for the first time while flying.
The gun pod, which straps on to the belly of the F-35B and US Navy's F-35C, allows the ship-based fighters the option to sacrifice a little stealth, drag, and range for 220-rounds of 25 mm firepower — an upgrade from the 20 mm guns that current US fighter jets carry, though the magazine is smaller. (www.businessinsider.com) Plus d'info...
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If it wasn't costing us so much money this story would be hilarious. They're so excited that a fighter can shoot its' gun but can't aim it. Still working on that. The gun is a bolt on appendage that sacrifices the other capabilities of the aircraft. It carries a 1000 less rounds of a lesser caliber of the system it is supposed to replace. There is Close Air Support and there is Air Superiority. The jobs are well proven over a hundred years of air combat to be mutually exclusive yet we've spent billions in the pipedream of a do-all aircraft.
