Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

F-35 Lightning II
Role	Stealth multirole fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
First flight	15 December 2006
Introduction	2016[1]–2018[2][3]
Status	In production, in U.S. service as a aircraft[4]
Produced	2006–present
Number built	148+ F35A [7]
Unit cost	F-35A: US$122 million (flyaway cost, 2011)[8] F-35B: US$150M (avg. cost, 2011)[9] F-35C: US$139.5M (avg. cost, 2011)[9][10] Note: Average costs excludes development cost[9] F-35A weapons system unit cost is US$183.5M (FY 2011)[8]
Developed from	Lockheed Martin X-35

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The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole Fighter aircraft. It can perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability.^[11]

The F-35 was developed from the Joint Strike Fighter Program. The x-35 made by Lockheed Martin and the F-32 made by Boeing were the two prototypes aircraft that were evaluated in this program. Although both designs exceeded the required metrics the X-35 was seen as superior and was selected to be developed into this new fighter.

The development of the F-35 was very controversial. Many people felt like the US Air Force has been spending too much money on the F-35 project, and that the government should halt all development of the project.

However in 2011 the F-35 entered production and was formally accepted into the United States air force. It was also introduced at later times to the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Air National Guard. An export model called the F35B was delivered to the royal air force in 2012. Over 148 F35A are operational.^[12]

1. ↑ "Adjustments Put F-35 on Track, Program Director Says". US DoD, 23 February 2011.
2. ↑ Cost Predictions Rattle Foreign Customers&next=0 "JSF Cost Predictions Rattle Foreign Customers." Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine Aviation Week, 23 March 2011.
3. ↑ Shalal-Esa, Andrea. "US Navy, Air Force may field F-35s later than 2016." Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Thomson Reuters, 21 April 2011.
4. ↑ King, Samuel Jr. "First F-35 arrives at Eglin." U.S. Air Force, 15 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
5. ↑ "Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II". Jane's All the World's Aircraft. (online version, 21 January 2008).
6. ↑ McKinney, Brooks. "Northrop Grumman Begins Assembling First F-35 Production Jet." Northrop Grumman, 1 April 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2008
7. ↑ Less than eight were completed prior to 1 April 2008.^[5][6]
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "FY 2012 Budget Estimates" Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, p. 01–1. U.S. Air Force, February 2011.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} , Schwellenbach, Nick. "JSF Likely Far More Expensive Than Aircraft They're Replacing." Project on Government Oversight, 15 February 2011.
10. ↑ Fulghum, David A. "Canada Expects Much Higher JSF Unit Costs." Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine Aviation Week, 10 March 2011.
11. ↑ "Knesset Finance Committee approves F-35 deal." Globes (Israel). Retrieved: 29 November 2010.
12. ↑ Martin, Lockheed. "History". www.f35.com. Retrieved 2024-04-04.