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Hello everybody. I’d like to re-introduce and suggest the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II as a future addition to the US Aviation tech tree. It is an American single-seat, single-engine, stealth multirole combat aircraft designed for air superiority and strike operations. This variant is the Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) for the United States Marine Corps and has the smallest fuel volume of all variants.
Key Characteristics
- Stealth Fighter / Multirole Fighter / Naval Aircraft
- Short Take-off and Vertical-Landing variant
- Highly integrated digital avionics, including AN/APG-81 AESA radar
- Weapons bays to carry four AIM-120D AMRAAMs
- A P&W F135-PW-600 afterburning turbofan with more than 40,000 lb force thrust
History
DevelopmentThe development of the F-35 originated from the Joint Strike Fighter program in 1993-1994 to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. An aircraft would be developed and equipped with advanced weapons and sensor technology, so the new aircraft in massive numbers would replace F-16s, F/A-18s, AV-8s, and other 1980s aircraft technology. McDonnell Douglas, Northrop, Lockheed, and Boeing submitted their proposals to the Department of Defense to enter the competition. Lockheed Martin and Boeing were selected to be rewarded with a contract to develop their prototypes on November 16, 1996. Each competitor would have to produce two aircraft: one would demonstrate conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) and carrier takeoff and landing (CV), and the other one would demonstrate short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL).
Lockheed Martin developed its X-35A (later converted to X-35B) and X-35C, while Boeing developed its X-32A and X-32B, all powered by Pratt & Whitney F119. The X-32A first made its first flight on September 18, 2000, for CTOL and CV trials, and the X-35A first flew on October 24, 2000, to conduct 28 flight tests for flying qualities and performance. The X-35A was converted into the X-35B for STOVL testing. The X-35B would successfully demonstrate STOVL in a test flight by taking off in less than 500 feet, going supersonic, and landing vertically. This test flight would put Lockheed Martin ahead of Boeing.
On October 26, 2001, Lockheed Martin won the production contract, and Pratt & Whitney secured a development contract for the new F135 engine for the F-35 series.
Production DesignThe JSF program now evolved into the System Development and Demonstration phase, intending to produce F-35 combat aircraft. Lockheed Martin made differences on the production F-35 distant from the prototype X-35. The production F-35 has a lengthened forward fuselage by 5 inches more, moved horizontal stabilizers by 2 inches rearward, changed diverterless supersonic inlet from a four-sided to a three-sided cowl shape and moved 30 inches rearward, and raised top surface of fuselage section by 1 inch more to accommodate weapons bays. From this point, the designs of production F-35s were diverged for F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C. All of them are designed with a service life of 8,000 hours. Lockheed Martin is responsible for the overall systems integration and final assembly and checkout, while Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems supply components of mission systems and airframes.
The F-35B is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-600 variant with the Shaft-Driven Lift Fan (SDLF) to allow the STOVL operations. The F-35B gives up about a ⅓ of the F-35A’s fuel volume to accommodate the different types of engines. The SDLF was designed by Lockheed Martin and developed by Rolls-Royce. It consists of the lift fan, drive shaft, two roll posts, and a three-bearing swivel module. The nozzle features three bearings resembling a short cylinder with nonparallel bases and swivels from linear with the engine to perpendicular. The thrust vectoring 3BSM nozzle allows the main engine exhaust to be deflected downward at the tail. The fuel hydraulic actuator is used to move aircraft with pressurized fuel. The F-35B’s lift fan is powered by the low-pressure turbine through a drive shaft when engaged with a clutch and placed near the front of the aircraft to counter the torque by the 3BSM nozzle. The roll post ducts are the mounted-underwing thrust nozzles that use and divert unheated engine bypass air to stabilize in the low speed and hover flight.
The power plant is rated 28,000 lb force thrust at military power and 43,000 lb force thrust with an afterburner, allowing the F-35 to have a top speed of Mach 1.6 with the full internal payload. Although, it does not enable supercruise for the F-35 platform. The F-35’s engine section was built and covered with radar-absorbent materials to conceal the turbine and contribute stealth. The engine consists of a low-observable axisymmetric nozzle with 15 overlapping flaps that provide a sawtooth pattern to reduce the radar signature and infrared signature of the exhaust plume. The power and thermal management, environment control, auxiliary power unit, and engine functions were all integrated into a single system. The F-35’s sound power is comparable to the F-16C and F/A-18E, though the low-frequency noise was pretty noticeable from the F-35.
The F-35 has two internal weapons bays, each with two weapons stations capable of mounting AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The F-35B has two external outboard weapon stations, and each carries a payload of up to 1,500 pounds, and each one can mount a JDAM or Paveway. The F-35 has wingtip pylons to mount AIM-9X Sidewinders. A stealth air-to-air weapon configuration would consist of four AIM-120 missiles in the weapons bay and two AIM-9X missiles on the wingtip pylons. Behind the weapons bays, it has two compartments containing flares, chaff, and towed decoys. The F-35B has no internal gun but can use the GAU-22/A in a Terma A/S multi-mission pod, and it is mounted on the centerline of the aircraft and shaped to reduce its radar cross-section.
The surface of the F-35’s fuselage and wings are covered with radar-absorbent materials and intentionally shaped to continuously curvatures to reduce radar cross-section. In addition, the F-35’s diverterless supersonic inlet uses a compression bump and forward-swept cowl, further reducing the radar signature. It is reported that the F-35’s radar signature was measured to less than a metal gift ball depending on frequencies and angles. The latest stealth technology on the F-35 is comparably better than the F-22 because the F-22 is the first fighter to possess stealth technology, and the F-35’s stealth design benefited from the lessons learned from the F-22. The low-frequency radars can detect the F-35 due to Rayleigh scattering; however, these radars are susceptible to clutter and lack precision.
The F-35 has a glass cockpit designed to increase the pilot’s situational awareness. It has a large and wide touchscreen as the main display that shows flight instruments, store management, CNI information, and caution and warning information for the pilot. It does not have a head-up display; instead, the flight and combat information is fed into the visor of the pilot’s helmet in a helmet-mounted display system, allowing the pilot to see it no matter which way they are facing. The infrared and night vision imagery from the Distributed Aperture System can be displayed directly on the HMDS for the pilot. The HDMS provides a high-angle off-boresight capability to fire missiles at targets.
The F-35’s mission systems are the most complex, sophisticated, and expensive of all parts. Digital avionics and sensor fusion, combining sensor data from multiple sensor sources to obtain more accurate location estimates of targets, are installed to facilitate network-centric warfare and improve the pilot’s situational awareness. The key sensors include the AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system, AN/AAQ-37 Electro-optical Distributed Aperture System, AN/AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and AN/ASQ-242 Communications, Navigation, and Identification system, capable of sharing communication data to other friendlies without compromising the stealth. These sensors are designed and installed to work together to provide a clear image of situations on the battlefield.
The APG-81 AESA radar uses electronic scanning for rapid beam agility and incorporates passive and active air-to-air and strike modes. It has synthetic aperture radar capability of tracking and scanning multiple targets at a range of about 90 miles. The antenna has to be titled backward for stealth. It is complemented by the AAQ-37 Electro-optical Distributed Aperture System, which consists of six infrared sensors. It provides all-aspect missile launch warning, target tracking, and spherical infrared and night-vision imagery on the helmet visor. Behind the radar radome, the AAQ-40 EOTS is mounted under the nose and performs laser target, forward-looking infrared, and long-range IRST functions.
The ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system has ten radio frequency antennas embedded into the edges of the wing and tail for an all-aspect radar warning receiver. It provides sensor fusion of radio frequency and infrared tracking functions, geolocation threat targeting, and multispectral image countermeasures for self-defense against missiles. They assist in estimating the approximate location of targets. It is reported that this electronic warfare system could detect and jam hostile radars.
All of these features on the F-35 are designed to require less intensive maintenance than prior stealth aircraft, such as the F-22.
United States Marine Corps ServiceThe first F-35B was built and flew on June 11, 2008, followed by the first hover on March 17, 2010. Other F-35Bs were involved in flight sciences testing to measure flight performance, flight loads, store separation, and mission systems. Consequently, the flight tests have revealed several issues in the F-35B and F-35C that required expensive redesigns and resulted in several fleet-wide groundings, delaying further production of the new F-35s. For example, the F-35B suffered several premature cracks in fatigue testing, requiring a redesign of the structure, and another F-35B was found to have problems with the horizontal tails, which suffered heat damage from prolonged afterburner use. Lockheed Martin would spend years addressing these identified defects with cost overruns.
Eventually, at-sea testing was approved for the two F-35Bs to board the USS Wasp, where they would conduct three weeks of initial sea trials in October 2011 under Development Test I. The F-35Bs began the sea trails in August 2013 under Development Test II, where they would conduct nighttime operations. They completed 19 nighttime vertical landings using the DAS imagery. Six F-35Bs were on the USS Wasp in May 2015 for the operational tests, and others were on the USS American in high sea states in late 2016 under final Development Test III.
The F-35B was approved for flight training in early 2012, and the USMC training unit received the fleet of F-35Bs at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in 2012 alongside the USAF F-35As and USN F-35Cs. The USMC possesses the first operational supersonic STOVL stealth fighter in its inventory and is phasing out the AV-8B Harrier. Subsequently, the F-35B fleet was expanded to the other Marine Corps Air Stations in the US.
The VMFA-121 at MCAS Yuma was the first USMC operational squadron to receive the F-35Bs on November 16, 2012. Eventually, the USMC declared the Initial Operational Capability for the F-35Bs in the Block 2B configuration on July 31, 2015, after multiple operational trials. The F-35Bs participated in their first Red Flag exercise in July 2016, and then, the first F-35B overseas deployment began at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, in 2017.
The F-35B was sent to its first known combat deployment in Afghanistan in July 2018, where they took off from USS Essex in an airstrike against Taliban targets, the first one done on September 27, 2018. The USMC was credited as the first to deploy the F-35 JSF abroad and use it in combat.
The existing F-35Bs received upgrades throughout their lifetime for the software and combat capabilities. The Block 2B configuration was the first combat-capable upgrade in July 2015, enabling the F-35 with air-to-air and strike capabilities. Blocks 3i and 3F were the incremental upgrades with more new software and hardware updates. The F-35s that received the final Block 3F configuration have concluded the System Development and Demonstration phase from December 2018 to March 2024.
The Block 4 configuration would be the first major upgrade program after the System Development and Demonstration phase, which began in development in 2019. It includes a new integration of additional weapons, AN/APG-85 AESA radar, new avionics hardware, and an improved F135 engine. Block 4 is expected to enter service in the late 2020s to early 2030s, though there were difficulties with new hardware that have caused delays to Block 4 aircraft deliveries from 2023 to 2024. In this Block, the F-35B would have a rearranged hydraulic line and bracket to carry four SDBs per internal outboard station instead of three SDBs, but it will not be getting the increase in an internal air-to-air missile payload.
More than 100 F-35Bs have been delivered to the USMC, and around 300 F-35Bs are planned for production and delivery to this day. The F-35Bs have been exported and delivered to Italy and the United Kingdom. Other international customers also placed orders for the F-35Bs on the way for delivery in the future.
Specifications
Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning IIGeneral Characteristics
- Crew: 1 (Pilot)
- Length: 51.2 ft (15.6 m)
- Height: 14.3 ft (4.36 m)
- Wingspan: 35 ft (10.7 m)
- Horizontal Tail Span: 21.8 ft (6.65 m)
- Wing Area: 460 sq ft (42.7 sq m)
- Powerplant: 1 x Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-600 afterburning turbofan jet engine
→ 40,500 lbf (180 kN) thrust A/B @ vertical
→ 40,000 lbf (178 kN) thrust A/B
→ 25,000 lbf (111 kN) thrust dry- Internal Fuel: 13,500 lb (6,125 kg)
- Empty Weight: 32,200 lb (14,650 kg)
- Max. Takeoff Weight: 60,000 lb (27,215 kg)
- Weapons Payload: 15,000 lb (6,800 kg)
Performance
- Thrust-to-Weight Ratio: 0.90 @ gross weight; 1.04 w/ loaded weight and 50% internal fuel
- Critical Altitude Speed: Mach 1.6 (1,200 mph; 1,931 km/h) w/ full internal weapons load
- Wing Loading: 103.3 lb/sq ft (504.4 kg/sq m)
- Service Ceiling: above 50,000 ft (15,240 m)
- Combat Range: 518 miles (834 km)
- Max. Range: 1,035 miles (1,665 km)
Weapons System
- Avionics:
- AN/APG-85 AESA Radar
- AN/AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System
- AN/AAQ-37 Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System
- AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare/electronic countermeasures system
- Integrated AN/ASQ-242 Communication, Navigation, Identification system
- Hardpoints:
- 4 internal; 6 external
- Air-to-Air:
- 25mm GAU-22 Missionized Gun Pod (220 rounds)
- 2 x AIM-9X Sidewinders
- 4 x AIM-120C/D AARAAMs
- Air-to-Ground:
- 2 x 1,000 lb GBU-32 JDAMs
- 6 x 250 lb GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs
- 6 x 250 lb GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bombs II
- 6 x 500 lb GBU-12 Paveway II Laser-Guided Bombs
- Other:
- Countermeasures (chaff and flares) dispensers
Cockpit
Conclusion | Why it should be in the game
The F-35B as an incoming fifth-generation aircraft addition is inevitable once almost all fourth-generation aircraft have been added to the game. The F-35B is a supersonic, stealth, strike fighter to provide us with a replacement for the dated AV-8B Harrier II, as it would be a potential endgame top-tier asset in its attacker aircraft line for the US aviation tech tree until the development and production of the sixth-generation attacker makes an appearance. Although the F-35B lacks the kinematic performance of the F-22, the F-35 could be competitive with fourth-generation fighters such as the F-16C Fighting Falcons and F/A-18C/D Hornets and F/A-18/E/F Super Hornets because the F-35B can employ its stealth, drag-free internal weapons bay, and hover capability, and but only limited to 7-g maneuvers and have to use external gun pod for gunfights. The F-35B could fill the gap in aviation tech trees of other countries to provide them with a platform for the fifth-generation aircraft.
See Also - F-35 Family
- F-35 Lightning II Archives | Air & Space Forces Magazine
- Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II - program supplier guide | Airframer
- About the F-35
- F-35B: The Incredible Fighter Jet the U.S. Marines Love
- https://news.usni.org/2018/09/27/36885
- AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) | Northrop Grumman
- F-35 Lightning II | Northrop Grumman
- https://www.prattwhitney.com/en/products/military-engines/f135
- Introducing the Terma F-35 Multi-Mission Pod
- AN/APG-81 - Wikipedia
- Pratt & Whitney F135 - Wikipedia
- Joint Strike Fighter program - Wikipedia
- Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II - Wikipedia
Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃