Lockheed develops new missile rack for F-35A and C

Lockheed has unveiled the Sidekick missile rack, developed using company funding, which allows two more AIM-120s to be carried internally. That brings the total up to 6 AMRAAMs internally. The rack is not compatible with the B model however, which has a different weapons bay, due to the lift fan. This will also allow the aircraft to preserve its stealth characteristics, while carrying more weapons. The F-35A is also getting AGCAS installed, far ahead of schedule.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The builder of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter has designed a new weapons rack to enable the aircraft to carry two more missiles internally.

The new rack, called Sidekick, enables each of the two weapons bays of the Air Force F-35A and Navy carrier-capable F-35C to carry three AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) instead of the current two, for a total of six internally carried AMRAAMs.

seapowermagazine.org...

The article also mentions they are working on integrating hypersonic weapons. I didn't know we had any that were small enough to fit in an F-35 weapons bay, although i suppose they could hang one off an external hardpoint if they weren't worried about observability (is that even a word?).
I'm guessing this is part of the 2.5 billion LM has been awarded to work in hypersonic development.

a reply to: Montana

They'll almost certainly be carried externally. They're still a ways from fielding any of them, let alone fitting them on an F-35.

a reply to: Montana

I think The hypersonic missile‘s they’re talking about are the British meteor and spear missiles . I’ve heard rumors for a while that they’re trying to mate them with the F 35B .

I thought NATO racks were pretty much universal.Sidekick sounds like a fold out racking system.

That would make sense as we have them on the Typhoon already.a reply to: Fallingdown

a reply to: Zaphod58

are they a family member of that AMRAAM that was trapezoidal and was built to be flush with the body of the F@@?

a reply to: penroc3

Like a HAVE DASH missile with the new racks

a reply to: penroc3
www.flightglobal.com...

a reply to: penroc3

The AIM-120C has clipped fins to allow them to fit into internal weapons bays.

a reply to: Zaphod58

miniature self-defence munition (MSDM) reminds me of pye wacket(but not nuclear) idea







last 2 are for fun