Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Stealth Fighter Completes First Flight

Lockheed Corporate Website ^ | 12/15/2006 | Lockheed Press Release

[JRios1968]

You know the difference between God and a fighter pilot?




God doesn't think he's a fighter pilot.

[Londo Molari]

These are the low rate initial production units. They use these aircraft for operational testing & evaluation.

Looks like an awesome aircraft! Bet you the pilots & aviators can't wait to try them out.

[MARKUSPRIME]

Good news!The F-22/F-35 combo will be deadly.

[BlueJ7]

Not kidding! I can see one of this machines shooting at a mosque full of terrorist plus Mookie inside... liberals, democrats and the drive by media will be up on arms complaining that, that is NOT FAIR! So I kind of think, it is a waste of money

[MosesKnows]

They use these aircraft for operational testing & evaluation

Exactly, they are many thousands of hours of testing ahead for this aircraft and its functional capabilities.

[IncPen]

ping

[Alex Murphy]

She's a beaut. Asthetically, I don't like the big honkin' engine duct in the rear, but if the enemy hates it more, I can live with it :D

[ThePythonicCow]

F-35 JSF Weapon Carriage Capacity

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Does the Joint Strike Fighter have an internal gun? What are the weapon loads? It does not seem to have as much internal space as the F-22.
- Nicholas

The primary purpose of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is to fulfill the ground attack duties now performed by aircraft like the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-18 Hornet, and AV-8B Harrier. In other words, the JSF is often referred to as a "bomb truck" that will attack ground targets once the skies have been cleared of any enemy fighter threat by dedicated air superiority fighters like the F-22 Raptor and F-15 Eagle.

The biggest driver behind the overall design of the JSF is affordability. The military needs to purchase a large quantity of this class of aircraft to complement larger and more capable planes like the F-22 and F-18E/F Super Hornet that are too expensive to buy in large quantities.

It is these two factors--its mission as a ground attack platform and the need for low cost--that largely dictate the size, layout, and weapons carriage capabilities of the F-35.

X-35 research plane and prototype for the F-35 JSF

Since the F-35 is primarily intended to be a replacement for the F-16, it is not surprising that the JSF is of roughly the same overall dimensions as the older craft. The F-22, by comparison, is much larger and comparable in size to the F-15 that it was designed to replace. The overall sizes of the F-16, F-22, and the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) version of the F-35 that will be purchased by the US Air Force are compared below.

Comparison of the F-16, F-35, and F-22

[Red6]

This is no prototype, it's a plane built from the assembly line.

[Loud Mime]

I saw an F22 take off at Edwards a couple of months ago. I've seen F-4's, F-14's, 15's and 16's go...but the 22 was a new ball game in itsself. It shot straight up like a rocket...much faster than the others.

When your head is straight up and your jaw is still on the ground you know you've seen something impressive.

[Red6]

What folks don't realize is that this is a huge step. Building a prototype is far from proofing/tuning an assembly process, which this amounts to. I bet in 2008 the first JSF will be operational.

[hosepipe]

[ This is a beautiful airplane with impressive capability. However, it will be totally irrelevant, until the marxist under belly of our nation is eradicated. ]

You mean IF...

[Sword_Svalbardt]

Weapons storage bays are based upon Bush' old plane the F-102, and the F-106.

[ThePythonicCow]

Click on images for Hi-Res versions

[gcruse]

Thanks for the picture. I see they've finally opted for full spectrum fluorescent lighting in the assembly bay. When it was the F-16, LTV used regular lamps that put out a greenish light to camera film. It was a nightmare trying to balance the grey plane color without making everything else go out of whack when making commercial enlargements for LTV at the lab.

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[gcruse]

Hmmm. I spoke too soon. Now I see patches of purple concrete and shadows caused by taking out too much green attempting to balance out for the lamps. Sigh.

[GreyFriar]

How about throwing in a P-40 and P-51 for comparison too?

[GreyFriar]

Good photographs in this thread

[ThePythonicCow]

P-40 and P-51 for comparison

Eh - that would require actual work. I found that F-16, F-22, F-35 comparison all set up.