‘Hot load’ for F-35B at Yuma

MARINE FIGHTER Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron (MAWTS) 1 have conducted the first ‘hot loads’ with the F-35B Lightning II. A ‘hot load’ involves installing a weapon while the aircraft’s engine is running. The event took place during the sevenweek Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) 2-17 course at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, on April 4. The weapons consisted of a 500lb GBU-12 laserguided bomb and a 2,000lb GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition