Confirmation of incident data comes from the USA, which happened to the fighter 5 generation F-35. We are talking about the fighter of the Marine Corps F-35B, who, during the flight, managed to hit himself with his own ammunition.
According to recent reports, this incident occurred in early March, but in the press information about him did not appear immediately.
In the US media sphere they write about, what, performing routine weapons use over the Yuma Range in Arizona, the aircraft received significant damage as a result of, that "one of the fired ammunition exploded almost immediately upon departure from the barrel of an aircraft cannon". As a result of the explosion of this ammunition, the lower part of the new generation fighter of the USMC of the United States was seriously damaged..
reported, that the pilot was not injured, he was able to deliver the fighter to the airbase, "Although it was quite difficult to do this due to damage to the fuselage".
As reported in American sources, an assessment of the damage caused. According to preliminary information, damage is more 2,5 million dollars.
The incident is confirmed by the spokesman for the Marine Corps Captain Andrew Wood. According to him, an investigation into the causes of the incident is currently underway. Among the versions - low-quality ammunition, caught in the arsenal of a fighter.
Captain Wood:
We qualified this as a Class A incident (significant damage - not less 2,5 million dollars - approx. «IN»).
If we talk about the configuration of the F-35B aircraft, then it is capable of carrying the GAU-22 / A Gatling aircraft cannon (GPU-9/A) caliber 25 mm. At the same time, unlike the F-35A, the gun is located in the lower part of the hull.. From this cannon, reportedly, and a shot was fired over the Yuma Range. Used ammunition PGU-32 / B SAPHEI-T. This is a semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary-tracer ammunition. Upon hitting the target, the fuse is triggered with a short delay (in the bow of the PGU-32 B projectile), which then detonates the incendiary element and a small explosive charge inside its main body.
