Eglin F-22 crashes; pilot safely ejects

An F-22 Raptor from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida crashed Friday morning on the base’s test and training range, but its pilot is safe and in stable condition.

The pilot of the F-22 safely ejected, and was taken to the 96th Medical Group hospital at the base for evaluation and observation, Eglin said in a release. The pilot is in stable condition, but was not identified by Eglin.

The jet was from the 43rd Fighter Squadron, part of Eglin’s 325th Fighter Wing. The range where it crashed is about 12 miles northeast of Eglin’s main base.

The pilot was flying a routine training flight with the 33rd Fighter Wing when it crashed at 9:15 a.m., Eglin said in the release. First responders from the 96th Test Wing arrived at the scene, and an investigation is under way.

Eglin said there was no one else on board, and there was no loss of life or damage to civilian property.

This F-22 was not part of a formation flight that also took off from Eglin Friday morning, the base said. That formation flight included another F-22, an F-35 and a T-38, and flew over Dade County and Panama City.

BAE SYSTEMS SELECTS KONGSBERG’S MCT-30 TURRET FOR U.S. MARINE CORPS ACV PROGRAM

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KONGSBERG) has been selected by BAE Systems, Inc. to design and manufacture the remote Medium Caliber Turret (MCT) for the United States Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) -30 program.

KONGSBERG will deliver up to 150 MCTs in a phased program as part of this contract. Test article delivery will commence early 2021 followed by production phases.

The KONGSBERG MCT-30 is the first remotely operated 30mm turret to be qualified and fielded in the United States. The system provides highly accurate firepower for wheeled or tracked combat vehicles. It is remotely controlled and operated from a protected position inside the vehicle compartment for optimized crew safety.

The MCT-30 leverages a link-less medium caliber cannon providing lethality, extremely high reliability and multi-user functions to the Marine Corps ACV and other platforms. 

“The ACV-30 with KONGSBERGs MCT-30 turret signifies a powerful lethality capability for the Marine Corps, representative of a new era in U.S. amphibious operations”, said Pål E Bratlie, Executive Vice President Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace“.

The U.S. Army, in 2015, chose KONGSBERG’s MCT-30 to increase the lethality of the Stryker Brigade in Europe. The system has been fielded and operated with the Army as part of the European Deterrence Initiative since 2018. 

It is the primary armament and fire control system for the Infantry Carrier Vehicle – Dragoon (ICV-D) Strykers. All MCT-30s, and any remote weapon stations, bound for U.S. customers are manufactured in the KONGBSERG Johnstown, PA facility leveraging a U.S. supply base located in over 30 states.