Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

Efran Syah       Fighter Aircraft    Comment   

Pacific Ocean (Nov. 3, 2014) An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter conducts approaches the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) for an arrested landing. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin by Andy Wolfe/Released)

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

Beaufort, S.C. (March 8, 2016) An F-35B Lightning II performs a vertical landing aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The F-35B is the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the jet which uses a jet propulsion system to execute the landing. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Jonah Lovy/Released)

Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A (CTOL), the short take-off and vertical-landing F-35B (STOVL), and the carrier-based F-35C (CV/CATOBAR).

Beaufort, S.C. (March 8, 2016) An F-35B Lightning II prepares to take-off aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Jonah Lovy/Released)

The F-35B entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2015, followed by the U.S. Air Force F-35A in August 2016 and the U.S. Navy F-35C in February 2019. The F-35 was first used in combat in 2018 by the Israeli Air Force.

The U.S. plans to buy 2,456 F-35s through 2044, which will represent the bulk of the crewed tactical airpower of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps for several decades. The aircraft is projected to operate until 2070.

The "Adir" jets first flight in Israel. (Major Ofer)

The F-35 is a family of single-engine, supersonic, stealth multirole fighters. The second fifth generation fighter to enter US service and the first operational supersonic STOVL stealth fighter, the F-35 emphasizes low observables, advanced avionics and sensor fusion that enable a high level of situational awareness and long range lethality; the USAF considers the aircraft its primary strike fighter for conducting suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions, owing to the advanced sensors and mission systems.

The carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flies with external weapons. (National Museum of the U.S. Navy)

The F-35 has a wing-tail configuration with two vertical stabilizers canted for stealth. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, rudders, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); leading edge root extensions also run forwards to the inlets.

The relatively short 35-foot wingspan of the F-35A and F-35B is set by the requirement to fit inside USN amphibious assault ship parking areas and elevators; the F-35C's larger wing is more fuel efficient.

F-35 performs a weapons bay doors pass during an F-35 Demo practice at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Jan. 16, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexander Cook)

The F-35's mission systems are among the most complex aspects of the aircraft. The avionics and sensor fusion are designed to enhance the pilot's situational awareness and command and control capabilities and facilitate network-centric warfare.

Key sensors include the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, BAE Systems AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system, Northrop Grumman/Raytheon AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS), Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and Northrop Grumman AN/ASQ-242 Communications, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) suite.

The F-35 was designed with sensor intercommunication to provide a cohesive image of the local battlespace and availability for any possible use and combination with one another; for example, the APG-81 radar also acts as a part of the electronic warfare system.

The F-35B Lightning II fifth generation combat aircraft performs a vertical landing at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, S.C. (Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images)

Stealth is a key aspect of the F-35's design, and radar cross-section (RCS) is minimized through careful shaping of the airframe and the use of radar-absorbent materials (RAM); visible measures to reduce RCS include alignment of edges, serration of skin panels, and the masking of the engine face and turbine. Additionally, the F-35's diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) uses a compression bump and forward-swept cowl rather than a splitter gap or bleed system to divert the boundary layer away from the inlet duct, eliminating the diverter cavity and further reducing radar signature.

U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen)

The glass cockpit was designed to give the pilot good situational awareness. The main display is a 20- by 8-inch (50 by 20 cm) panoramic touchscreen, which shows flight instruments, stores management, CNI information, and integrated caution and warnings; the pilot can customize the arrangement of the information. Below the main display is a smaller stand-by display.

The cockpit has a speech-recognition system developed by Adacel. The F-35 does not have a head-up display; instead, flight and combat information is displayed on the visor of the pilot's helmet in a helmet-mounted display system (HMDS).

(Image via DVIDShub)

To preserve its stealth shaping, the F-35 has two internal weapons bays with four weapons stations. The two outboard weapon stations each can carry ordnance up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg), or 1,500 lb (680 kg) for F-35B, while the two inboard stations carry air-to-air missiles.

Air-to-surface weapons for the outboard station include the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Paveway series of bombs, Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), and cluster munitions (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser).

The station can also carry multiple smaller munitions such as the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), GBU-53/B SDB II, and the SPEAR 3 anti-tank missiles; up to four SDBs can be carried per station for the F-35A and F-35C, and three for F-35B. The inboard station can carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM. Two compartments behind the weapons bays contain flares, chaff, and towed decoys.

(Aug. 1, 2013) Capt. Michael Kingen, a test pilot, flies a BF-1, an F-35B Lightning II, during a 500-pound GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided weapon separation test. BF-1 dropped the GBU-12 over the Atlantic Test Ranges from an internal weapons bay. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin by Dane Wiedmann/Released)

The single-engine aircraft is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F135 low-bypass augmented turbofan with rated thrust of 43,000 lbf (191 kN). Derived from the Pratt & Whitney F119 used by the F-22, the F135 has a larger fan and higher bypass ratio to increase subsonic fuel efficiency, and unlike the F119, is not optimized for supercruise.

The engine contributes to the F-35's stealth by having a low-observable augmenter, or afterburner, that incorporates fuel injectors into thick curved vanes; these vanes are covered by ceramic radar-absorbent materials and mask the turbine. The stealthy augmenter had problems with pressure pulsations, or "screech", at low altitude and high speed early in its development.

The low-observable axisymmetric nozzle consists of 15 partially overlapping flaps that create a sawtooth pattern at the trailing edge, which reduces radar signature and creates shed vortices that reduce the infrared signature of the exhaust plume. Due to the engine's large dimensions, the USN had to modify its underway replenishment system to facilitate at-sea logistics support.

(US Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Madelyn Brown)

The F-35 is designed to require less maintenance than earlier stealth aircraft. Some 95% of all field-replaceable parts are "one deep"—that is, nothing else need be removed to reach the desired part; for instance, the ejection seat can be replaced without removing the canopy.

The F-35 has a fibermat radar-absorbent material (RAM) baked into the skin, which is more durable, easier to work with, and faster to cure than older RAM coatings; similar coatings are currently being considered for application on older stealth aircraft such as the F-22. Skin corrosion on the F-22 led the F-35's designers to use a less galvanic corrosion-inducing skin gap filler and to use fewer gaps in the airframe skin needing filler and better drainage.

The flight control system uses electro-hydrostatic actuators rather than traditional hydraulic systems; these controls can be powered by lithium-ion batteries in case of emergency. Commonality between the different variants allowed the USMC to create their first aircraft maintenance Field Training Detachment to apply the USAF's lessons to their F-35 operations.

Air Force Fly By, Beaches of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel 71st Independence day, 9 May 2019. (Deror Avi)

Specifications (F-35A)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 15.7 m
• Wingspan: 11 m
• Height: 4.4 m
• Empty weight: 13,290 kg
• Gross weight: 22,471 kg
• Max takeoff weight: 31,751 kg
• Fuel capacity: 8,278 kg
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 afterburning turbofan, 28,000 lbf (120 kN) thrust dry, 43,000 lbf (190 kN) with afterburner

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.6 at altitude
• 700 kn (806 mph; 1,296 km/h) at sea level
• Range: 1,500 nmi (1,700 mi, 2,800 km)
• Combat range: 669 nmi (770 mi, 1,239 km) on internal fuel
• 760 nmi (870 mi; 1,410 km) interdiction mission on internal fuel, for internal air to air configuration
• Service ceiling: 15,000 m
• g limits: +9.0
• Wing loading: 107.7 lb/sq ft (526 kg/m2) at gross weight
• Thrust/weight: 0.87 at gross weight (1.07 at loaded weight with 50% internal fuel)

Armament

• Guns: 1 × 25 mm (0.984 in) GAU-22/A 4-barrel rotary cannon, 180 rounds
• Hardpoints: 4 × internal stations, 6 × external stations on wings with a capacity of 5,700 pounds (2,600 kg) internal, 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg) external, 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg) total weapons payload,with provisions to carry combinations of missiles and bombs

Avionics

• AN/APG-81 AESA radar
• AAQ-40 E/O Targeting System (EOTS)
• AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) missile warning system
• AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system
• AN/ASQ-242 CNI suite