Post-SWAT weapons bay dimenions (esp. F-35B)

My search-fu has failed me.

Can anyone tell me what the weapons bay "keep out dimensions" are for the different F-35 variants, esp. the F-35B? Specifically, how long is the weapons bay in the F-35B? When Block 4 rolls around and the six internal AIM-120 carriage is made possible, will the Bee be able to carry six AIM-120s, or will its smaller weapons bay preclude that?

I saw somewhere that the F-35A / F-35C weapons bay is 4.27m long (14.0 ft). Here I found reference that the F-35B weapons bay was shortened by 14":

F-35 JSF Weapon Carriage Capacity
<snip>
Note that the bays of the F-35B STOVL variant were redesigned in late 2004 and are now 14 inches shorter, and perhaps reduced in width, compared to the F-35A CTOL model.
<snip>
Source: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0163.shtml

In this video, Jon Beesley, former LM F-35 chief test pilot, begins describing the SWAT changes at 2:08, and at 2:35 he talks about changing the STOVL interior bulkhead back to the original spec (for the Bee to carry 1000lb bombs rather than 2000lb bombs) which saved a lot of weight. Specifically, he mentions that the change shortened the weapons bay and eliminated some "u turned structures".

Go figure... you post a question, then start finding threads making you look stupid...

I found, and am reading, this thread: B's internal weapon restriction compared to A & C

And I found this thread: F-35B and internal AAMs?

SpudmanWP posted the following image back on 1-20-13 in the F-35B internal carry thread.

Nn the same F-35B internal carry thread, another gem from Spudman. It pretty clearly illustrates the shorter weapons bays in the Killer Bee, and that the rear of the weapons bays are just forward of the STOVL roll posts embedded in the wings.

The graphic also illustrates the relationship between the length of an AIM-120 and the Bee's weapons bay. There would not appear to be enough room to stagger AIM-120's within the Bee's bays, so if staggering is required for an internal six-pack, the Bee may not be able to accommodate six internal AIM-120s. (Has anyone read anything definitive about whether the Bee will be able to take six AIM-120s when Block 4 rolls around, or is that strictly an A/C thing?)



The graphic was from p. 39 of the jsf.mil F-35 Lightning II Program Brief pdf.

Answering my question about weapons bay dimensions: from the thread First pic of F-35B with Internal Weapons

It was a length issue as the width of the bay stayed the same.

There's also this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=21616

Note that what it gives is a side view.

There's also this thread:

Inside view of bay: comparing B to A&C for various weapo

Note that what it gives is a side view.

I saw that thread, but did not realize at first that the image was an animated gif.

If the reader goes to the above thread, you need to click on the image attachment, or better yet open it in a new browser window which will animate the gif image, and then you can refer to delvo's description of the different image frames.

Lock-Mart has published a video which includes a clip showing a CGI wire-frame model of an F-35B which clearly shows 6 AMRAAms inside. It's not the subject that Lock-Mart was talking about at the time; it's just something that some of us here noticed when the video went out. I don't have a link for it now. If a sketch of bay/door outlines makes it look like that wouldn't work, then the sketch must be making the bay seem smaller than it is.

Lock-Mart has published a video which includes a clip showing a CGI wire-frame model of an F-35B which clearly shows 6 AMRAAms inside.

This one?



Start at the 1:02 mark

That F-35 Experience video was uploaded by LM to YouTube in 2010. Combined with the graphic which seems to show the roll post vents behind the AIM-120s / back of weapons bay, so it seems reasonable to assume the CGI / graphic is of a post-SWAT Bee. It seems reasonable, then, to believe that the Bee will be capable of an internal AIM-120 sixpack when they get to it in Block 4.

A question from ignorance. Will the F35B be able to carry six Meteors once the Block 4 is in place? It would make a very interesting air superiority combination.

No F-35 will be able to carry 6 internal air-to-air missiles in Block 4, not based on what has been disclosed thus far. There's also a slight chance that Meteors may not be able to be staggered like AMRAAMs in stations 5 and 7 due to the length of their intakes and (AFAIK) how Meteors have their mounting points.