![]() and Canada, the Joint Strike Fighter program quickly moved from its official proposal in 1995 to two competitive prototypes in 1997: Lockheed Martin’s X-35 and Boeing’s X-32. Navy, Air Force, DARPA, and soon, the U.K. With a laundry list of requirements from the U.S. ![]() It would also leverage the same stealth technologies found in the F-22. This new “Joint Strike Fighter,” Pentagon officials believed, would allow for streamlined logistical supply lines, maintenance, and training. ![]() In the May 2002 issue, Popular Mechanics explored the U.S. “In combat, situational awareness is worth its weight in gold.”īut for nearly its entire life, many have debated whether the F-35 is a game-changing platform or a case study in the excesses of the Pentagon’s weapon-acquisition process. “There has never been an aircraft that provides as much situational awareness as the F-35,” Major Justin “Hasard” Lee, an Air Force F-35 pilot instructor, tells Popular Mechanics. It’s why F-35s have come to be known as “quarterbacks in the sky” or “ a computer that happens to fly.” But it’s not the F-35’s firepower that really makes the difference, it’s the computing power. The F-35 can fly at speeds as high as Mach 1.6 and can carry an internal payload of four weapons without compromising its stealth. ![]() ✈ Don’t miss any of our best-in-class military and defense coverage. Ultimately, the F-35 fighter jet won the day, breaking down one of the world’s most advanced air defense networks and relaying the data to missile-packed fighters like the F-16. “On the last week of a Red Flag exercise we really throw everything we have at the Blue Force and replicate the toughest adversary possible,” says Travolis “Jaws” Simmons, commander of the 57th Adversary Tactics Group. Enemy fighters sporting the color schemes of Russian Su-30s began to close in. Soon, cockpit displays in each aircraft began to light up and alarms sounded, indicating that the formation was being painted by multiple radar arrays tied to surface-to-air missiles and inbound fighters. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play ![]()
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