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A Raptor pilot flying at supersonic speed dropped the first guided 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, on the range at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. The mission, conducted 12 December, was the last major milestone recorded for the F-22 while still designated F/A-22. Since July 2005, Raptor pilots have flown seven JDAM supersonic separation test missions under a variety of conditions, but this was the first time the JDAM used its guidance system to hit a target. Testers at Edwards plan to expand the supersonic JDAM envelope with drops from increasingly higher altitudes and greater speeds. Small diameter bomb testing from the Raptor is scheduled to begin in 2006.
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