A Brief History
On December 15, 2006, the first F-35 Lightning II multi-purpose, multi-service fighter bomber made its first flight. The F-35 program is the most expensive military system in history. Is it worth it?
Digging Deeper
The Lockheed Martin Lightning II is meant to serve the US Air Force, US Navy, and US Marine Corps as a multi-role 5th generation fighter plane with excellent stealth characteristics and superb performance. It is a single engine fighter with a crew of 1.
Built in 3 main types, the F-35A is the conventional take off and landing version used by the Air Force. The F-35B is a short take off and vertical landing type for the Marine Corps to fill the role of the AV-8 Harrier and other more conventional fighters. The F-35C is the Navy version (Marines will also procure some), designed to be catapulted off carrier decks and make conventional arrested landings on the carrier. The Navy may even use an unmanned version as a large and capable drone.
The price tag for this world beating fighter plane is a whopping $1.3 trillion (that is TRILLION with a T) which boils down to $84 to $116 million per plane, depending on which version. So far 162 of these pricey planes have been produced, and they are still in production. These planes will excel at air to air fighting, reconnaissance, and ground/sea attack. Unfortunately, the program is about 7 years behind schedule while working out problems as they arose, and these delays and problems have put the program more than $160 billion over budget.
The program is being expanded to produce an international version for US allies called the F-35 JSF, and quite a few countries have signed on to procure these highly capable jets. The Marine Corps has certified the F-35 as operational in 2015, and the Air Force is scheduled to follow in 2016, while the Navy has to wait until 2018. Almost 2500 of these jets are planned for US service alone and another 500 are already planned by allied nations, making this a large project by modern standards, especially considering the cost.
Designed to have a low radar and visual signature, the F-35 also has measures to reduce its thermal print, making it harder to target with heat seeking missiles. Upgrades to reduce the threat of heat seeking missiles are in the works, and so is a laser jamming system to help protect the jet. Engine upgrades are also scheduled, and of course, periodic upgrades of various types will continue throughout its service life.
Powered by a single after-burning jet engine with a max of 43,000 pounds of thrust, the F-35 can fly at Mach 1.6+ (over 1200 mph) and has a combat radius (internal fuel) of over 600 nautical miles. With 6 external hard points for weapons, extra fuel, or special purpose pods and 2 internal weapons bays, the F-35 can carry up to 18,000 pounds of ordnance, an incredible number for a single engine jet. It is also armed with an internal 25 mm Gatling type gun with 180 rounds. The F-35 can carry a wide variety of missiles and bombs for every conceivable mission, including nuclear bombs and external gun pods.
Love it or not, the F-35 is too big a project and too far along to cancel or decrease in a major way, as there is no alternative in the works. It is a marvelous airplane that will almost certainly outclass any foe in the near future.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Do you think it is worth the enormous cost? What do you think about this ultra-modern weapon system?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Hamilton, John. F-35 Lightning II (Xtreme Military Aircraft). A & D Xtreme, 2012.
Schiller, Dr. Jon. F-35 Lightning II. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
The featured image in this article, a U.S. Air Force photograph from http://www.dvidshub.net/image/935698/aerial-refueling-f-35-lightning-ii-joint-strike-fighters-eglin-afb-fla#.UZyEMrVU8QY by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen of an F-35A off the coast of Northwest Florida, is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States. This file has been extracted from another file: F-35A flight.jpg. U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters from the 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla. perform an aerial refueling mission with a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 336th Air Refueling Squadron from March ARB, Calif., May 14th, 2013 off the coast of Northwest Florida. The 33rd Fighter Wing is a joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing that trains Air Force, Marine, Navy and international partner operators and maintainers of the F-35 Lightning II.
