Numerical Simulation of a GBU-12 Emergency Jettison from the F-35B (STOVL Variant)

The Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office (AFSEO) Computational Aeromechanics Branch (CAB) participated in a joint effort to systematically validate an emergency jettison (EJ) of a GBU-12 from the weapons bay of the F-35B to support flight clearances. No wind tunnel data have been obtained for store separation of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant with landing gear extended and vectored thrust from the propulsion system, therefore credible numerical solutions obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will reduce the safety risk of an unplanned jettison during STOVL flight test.