The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter | Military Machine (2024)

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighteris more than just the most expensive weapons procurement program in world history. The goal is to bring science fiction to life and field the most advanced, game-changing combat aircraft capable of dominating the battlefield for generations to come. Despite the amplecontroversies, cost overruns and technical setbacks marring the F-35’s Joint Strike Fighter development, the Pentagon remains committed to rapidly fielding this high-tech war machine as quickly as possible. Even to the extent of shifting some funds away from maintainingcurrent fighters and into procuring new F-35 Lightning aircraft.

Current Status

The F-35 program is quite unique, since full scale production is proceedingsimultaneously with late-stage research and development. This approach is intendedto reduce costs, under the assumption that it will be cheaper to upgrade an existing basic aircraft than to designa “perfect” one from scratch. As of January 2017, two of three variants are certified as “combat ready” by theUS Air ForceandUS Marine Corps. U.S. Air Force F-35A standard takeoff & U.S Marine Corps F-35B vertical take off/landing are combat ready. The ‘C’ version is designed for carrier use for the US Navyand is not cleared for combat. In addition, the current fleet of 200 fightershave amassed more than 70k cumulative flight hours. There are 300 pilots trained to operate these futuristic warbirds.

Revolutionary Design

The F-35 Lightning’s most gamechanging featureisn’t its multi-role versatilitynor even extreme stealth capabilities, but rather its next-generation, fully networked avionicssystems. Equipped with a powerful AN/APG-81Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, classified Advanced Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS), custom designed AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system andAN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System, among many other advanced features, the F-35’s sensors provide unprecedented 360 degree situational awareness. Both in the air and on the ground, as well as across most of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Full Mission Systems Coverage

Besides performing as an impressive reconnaissance aircraft in and of itself, the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter automatically communicates with every available land, sea, air and space sensor within range to gather and share new intelligence in real-time. According to Lockheed Martin, this seamless “fusion” of so many different sensors and communications systems requires more lines of code than the Space Shuttle’s operating system.

Unique Capabilities

When it comes time to put all this electronic power to use, anF-35 operatorhas several advantages over legacy fighter crews. Six high-res, infrared cameras outside the aircraft augmentthe electronic sensors and feed a real-time augmented reality display to the pilot’s helmet visor. This allows the operatorto “look through” the plane’s frame, then simply point and shoot at any target without alteringthe aircraft’s course.

Next-Generation Combat

In fact, the targeting pod is so advanced that it can engage up to 50 high-speed targets at beyond visual range, including aircraft and ground vehicles. The F-35’s onboard AI system automaticallysorts all available targets for destruction based upon the threat they pose to the aircraft or to fulfill the mission objective. Furthermore, it prepares a firing solution for each threat using the appropriate munitions on board. In theory, to engage a target all the pilot has to do is simply agree to weapon’s release and the computer handles the rest.

Performance

Breaking with aerial warfaretradition, the Joint Strike Fighter isn’t a particularly nimble aircraft. Compared to the fourth generation F-16 and F/A-18 fighters it’s replacing, the JSF is slower and less maneuverable in manycirc*mstances. The F-35’s poor “dogfighting” skills were highlighted in aninfamous2015 exercise when a base model JSF was easily defeated by an older F-16D in close quarters combat drills. Propelled by onlya single engine, the relatively heavy F-35 Lightning also lacks the supercruise abilityand high thrust-to-weight ratio of the F-22 Raptor. Still, in the words of one senior project manager that witnessed the wargame:

“[Comparing dogfighting capabilities between the F-35 and F-16] is an apples to oranges comparison. If an enemy aircraft even gets within visual range of an F-35 Lightning, then something went seriously wrong.”

Ease of Maintenance

An often overlooked force multiplierin the F-35’s designisitsstreamlined ground maintenance procedures. In particular,95% of the JSF’s field-repairablepartscan be replaced without having to dismantle another component of the plane. Combined with anextensive network of internal sensors and self-learning diagnostic computers, F-35s should be able to maintain a much higher sortie rate than most legacy fighters. Reducing maintenance downtime, even by a small amount, would be a massive tactical and strategic advantage during sustained combat operations.

Compare the F-35 Lightning II vs F-22 Raptor.

Compare the F-35 Lightning II vs F-16 Fighting Falcon.

See more remarkable images of the F-35 Lightning II.

See F-35 Specifications

References:

Lockheed Martin

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jsf.mil

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Popular Mechanics

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comptroller.defense.gov