Denmark’s Terma is showing off, for the first time here at the show, the multi-mission pod (MMP) it has developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The MMP began life as the gun pod for the F-35, which Terma designed and developed on behalf of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, but the company has developed it into a more versatile pod that should prove attractive, in particular, to overseas operators of the JSF.
While the F-35A CTOL version of the JSF has an internal GAU-22/A four-barrel 25mm cannon, the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B STOVL and U.S. Navy F-35C CV employ podded weapons.
Terma’s gun pod is a full-monocoque carbon fiber composite structure. It has passed engineering test and qualification, and is now in low-rate initial production. The pod itself was first flown in February, carried by STOVL test aircraft BF-02 during a sortie from NAS Patuxent River, flown by Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Levin.
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