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Lockheed Martin
F-35 Lightning II |
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II in take-off for his first flight December 15, 2006 at Fort Worth, Texas.
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II in take-off for his first flight December 15, 2006 at Fort Worth, Texas.
Lockheed Martin
F-35 "Lightning II" |
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The Joint
Strike fighter (JSF) is a program designed to
develop a family of stealthy, next- generation
replacement strike fighter aircraft for the
USAF, USN, USMC and the UK Royal navy and Royal
Air Force. The Joint Advanced Strike Technology
program ended its research phase in December
1994.
The Lockheed
Martin F-35 JSF team includes Northrop Grumman, BAe
Systems, Pratt and Whitney and Rolls-Royce.
Final assembly of the aircraft will take place
at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant in Texas.
The JSF
program entered the Concept Demonstration Phase
in November 1996, when two contractors, Boeing
(X-32) and Lockheed Martin (X-35), were selected
to build and fly Concept- Demonstration
aircraft.
The first
flight of the X-35A was at 24 October 2000 with
LMTAS test pilot Tom Morgenfeld. The X-35A
test-program ended November 22, 2000 after 27
test-flights and is rebuild as the X-35B.
The X-35B
Short-take-off/vertical-landing (STOVL) variant,
with its unique shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion
system, achieved its first vertical take-off and
vertical landing on June 23, 2001.
The X-35C
first flight February 12, 2001 is the carrier
variant, completed 250 practice carrier landings
at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. This is
the Navy version of the JSF will be similar to
the Air Force version except with a stronger
internal structure, landing gear, bigger wing,
and arresting hook to allow carrier landings.
The US
Department of Defense announced on October 26,
2001, Lockheed Martin as the winner of the JSF
program.
During System Development and
Demonstration (SDD) phase of the JSF program,
the 22 JSF test aircraft (14 of which will have
full-flight capability) will undergo an
extensive series of ground and flight tests for
the Pentagon to establish their compliance with
contract specifications. The official production
order is expected to be issued to Lockheed
Martin in 2006. Both SDD contract performance
and partner-country order quantities are factors
contributing to future teammate production-order
decisions. Approximately 4,500 aircraft are
expected to be built.
F-35
The first CTOL F-35A has begun
airframe assembly at July 12, 2004 and the first
wing assembly at August 23, 2004, The
F-35A Lightning II flew for the first time on
Friday December 15, 2006.
The STOVL F-35B first flight is set for 2007.
The F-35A fighter is expected to enter service
in 2008, the F-35B in 2012.
Early production lots of all
three variants will be powered by the Pratt and
Whitney afterburning turbofan F-135 engine, a
derivative of the F119 fitted on the F-22.
Following production aircraft will be powered by
either the F135 or the F-136 turbofan being
developed by General Electric and Rolls-Royce. |
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Developing Nation: |
United States of America. |
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Manufacturer/Designer: |
Lockheed Martin. |
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Task: |
Radar-evading,
supersonic multi-role fighter. |
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First Flight: |
- X-35A October 24, 2000.
- X-35B June 23, 2001.
- X-35C February 12, 2001.
- F-35A December 15, 2006. |
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Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter |
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Crew: |
1 |
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Wing Span: |
- X-35A 10,00 m.
- X-35C 13,12 m (9,90 m
folded). |
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Length: |
- X-35A 15,41 m.
- X-35C 15,50 m. |
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Height: |
4,07 m. |
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Engine (s): |
- X-35A/C:
one Pratt & Whitney F-119-611 turbo-fan.
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X-35B: one Rolls-Royce/Allison shaft-driven lift-fan.
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Weight: |
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Empty: 9.980 Kg.
- Max. load: 22.680 Kg. |
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Max. Take off weight: |
9.980 Kg. |
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Max. Speed: |
mach 1.5. |
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Max. Range: |
3.000 km. |
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g limits: |
9 + |
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Lockheed
Martin F-35 |
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First Flight: |
- F-35A 2006.
- F-35B 2007.
- F-35C 2006. |
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First Delivery: |
- F-35A 2008.
- F-35B 2012.
- F-35C 2010. |
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Initial
operational capability dates: |
- US Marine
Corps: autumn 2010
- US Air Force: autumn 2011
- US Navy: autumn 2012
- Royal Navy/Royal Air Force: 2012 |
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Crew: |
1 |
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Ejection
Seat: |
Martin Baker. |
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Wing Span: |
- F-35A 10,65
m.
- F-35B 10,65
m.
- F-35C 13,11
m. |
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Wing Area: |
- F-35A 42,7
m².
- F-35B 42,7
m².
- F-35C 57,6
m². |
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Length: |
- F-35A 15,37
m.
- F-35B 15,37
m.
- F-35C 15,48
m. |
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Height: |
4,57 m. |
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Engine: |
- One Pratt
and Whitney afterburning turbofan F-135
engine with 164,6kN thrust.
- the F-35B
engine is coupled with a shaft-driven lift
fan system for STOVL propulsion. |
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Weight: |
- Empty: Kg.
- Internal
fuel: F-35A 8.300 Kg.
F-35B 6.080 Kg.
F-35C 8.663 Kg.
- Max.
payload: 6.805 Kg. |
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Max. Take off weight: |
27.215 Kg. |
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Max. Speed: |
Mach 1.6+ |
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Max. Range: |
- F-35A 1.300
Km.
- F-35B 920
Km.
- F-35C 1.480
Km. |
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g limits: |
9+. |
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Radar: |
AN/APG-81
multi-function radar. |
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Centerline
hardpoint('s): |
1. |
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Underwing
hardpoints: |
3 each wing. |
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Wingtip
hardpoints |
1 each
wingtip. |
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Weapons
of the F-35 in two internal weapon bays: |
- Mausers 27
mm cannon.*
- AIM-9X
Sidewinder.
- AIM-120
AMRAAM.
-
Joint Direct Attack
Munitions
- CBU-105 WCMD
(Wind- Corrected Munitions Dispenser) for
the Sensor-Fuzed Weapon.
- JSOW (Joint
Stand Off Weapon).
- Paveway II
guided bombs.
-
455 kg bombs and 900 kg bombs. |
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External weapons provided
for non- stealthy missions: |
- AIM-9X
Sidewinder.
- JASSM
(Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile).
- Storm
Shadow cruise missile. |
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* The
F-35's Air Force version would have its gun mounted
internally, while the Navy and Marine Core
versions' could be set
underneath the aircraft.
Lockheed Martin
wins $200 Billion contract from Pentagon, the biggest in
history, Pratt & Whitney $4, 8 Billion contracts for the
engine. The production should be in Fort Worth, Texas.
Estimated
cost:
F-35A $40
million
F-35B $50
million
F-35C $50
million
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Development
Partners |
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USA |
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United Kingdom |
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Level 2 |
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Italy |
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Netherlands |
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Level 3 |
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Turkey |
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Canada |
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Norway |
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Denmark |
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Australia |
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Security
Co-operation Participant |
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Israel |
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Singapore |
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Production
planning: |
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USAF. |
- 1763 |
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USMC. |
- 609 |
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USN. |
- 480 |
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RAF/Navy. |
- 150 |
Lockheed Martin immediately
started the 126 month-long SDD phase (System Development and
Demonstration), which involves the construction of 14 flight
test aircraft and 8 test articles:
- 5 x CTOL aircraft
- 4 x STOVL aircraft, two for flight sciences and two for
mission system testing
- 5 x CV aircraft
- 6 x static test articles for fatigue and load tests
- 1 x CTOL pole test model for cross section measurement
- 1 x CV drop test airframe
LRIP 1
production (10 aircraft) should start in mid-2006, followed
by LRIP 2 (22 aircraft) in 2007, LRIP 3 (54 aircraft) in
2008, LRIP 4 (91 aircraft) in 2009, LRIP 5 (120 aircraft) in
2010 and LRIP 6 (168 aircraft) in 2011. |
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