F-35 Lightning II

The F-35 Lightning II takes off for its first flight at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base on 15 December 2006.

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The F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine, stealth-capable military strike fighter, a multi-role aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air-to-air combat. The F-35 is descended from the X-35 of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is being principally funded by the United States with the United Kingdom and other partner governments providing additional funding. It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners. Demonstrator aircraft flew in 2000; a production model first took flight on 15 December 2006. The United States Air Force plans to acquire 1,763 aircraft.




Unit cost

F-35A: US$48 million
F-35B: US$62 million
F-35C: US$63 million

General characteristics

* Crew: 1
* Length: 50 ft 6 in (15.37 m)
* Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.65 m)
* Height: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
* Wing area: 459.6 ft² (42.7 m²)
* Empty weight: 26,000 lb (12,000 kg)
* Loaded weight: 44,400 lb (20,100 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb (27,200 kg)
* Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan
o Dry thrust: 25,000 lbf[63] (111 kN)
o Thrust with afterburner: >40,000 lbf[63] (178 kN)
* Secondary Powerplant: 1× General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 afterburning turbofan, >40,000 lbf (178 kN) [in development]
* Lift fan (STOVL): 1× Rolls-Royce Lift System driven from either F135 or F136 power plant, 18,000 lbf (80 kN)

Performance

* Maximum speed: Mach 1.6+[63] (1,200 mph, 1,931 km/h)
* Range: A: 1,200 nmi; B: 900 nm; C: 1400 nm[63] (A: 2,200 km; B: 1,667 km; C: 2,593 km) on internal fuel
* Combat radius: 600 nmi (690 mi, 1,110 km)
* Rate of climb: classified (not publicly available)
* Wing loading: 91.4 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight:
o With full fuel: A: 0.89; B: 0.92; C: 0.81[63]
o With 50% fuel: A: 1.12; B: 1.10; C: 1.01[63]

G-Limits

* F-35A: +9G
* F-35B: +7G
* F-35C: +7.5G