This episode of Weapons and Warfare lifts the curtain on the Lockheed Martin F-35 assembly facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The manufacturing team finishes a new jet every three days. It then gets passed on to the next team, before eventually making its way to its new owner. The Weapons and Warfare team got an up-close look at the F-35 as it gets assembled and spoke with some of the people responsible for bringing the jets from the assembly line to the frontlines.
The F-35 is steeped in history. Its nickname, the Lightning Two, comes from Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning, a twin-piston engined fighter jet the Army Air Corps flew during World War II.
Nearly 50 years later, the F-35 emerged from a joint strike fighter program that sought to replace the F-16, the F/A-18, the A-10, the F-117 and the Harrier. To do that, engineers came up with three versions of the F-35 that employ stealth technology:
- The Air Force’s F-35A is capable of conventional takeoffs and landings.
- The Marine Corps’ F-35B is designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings on amphibious assault ships.
- The Navy’s F-35C is built for carrier-based operations.
The Department of Defense awarded Lockheed Martin the development contract in 2001. With three versions of the jet required to fit each branch’s specific needs, it took nearly a decade of testing before the Marine Corps took delivery of its first F-35B. A little more than a year later, the Air Force got the keys to its initial F-35A. Finally, in February 2019, the Navy received its first F-35C.
“The plant is producing more than 150 airplanes a year,” Edward “Steve” Smith, Lockheed Martin’s director of F-35 domestic business, said. “We now to deliver to our 18 different customers and counting. We’ve got new captures going on all the time. And our government is in negotiation with countries both in Europe and the Indo-PACOM Theater for delivering this catered world class capability to them.”
F-35 combines capabilities from its predecessors
A side-by-side comparison of the F-35 to its closest cousins, the fourth-generation F-16 and the F/A-18, reveals some interesting details. It is actually slower than its air force predecessor. It has more range than the F-16, but less than the F/A-18. The F-35 can climb as high as the F/A-18 and a little higher than the F-16.
However, the F-35 stands out because it is armed with a superior suite of sensors, when combined with six onboard cameras, gives the pilot a much bigger picture of the battle space.
Most importantly, the F-35 employs stealth technology, not only in exterior design, internal as well. All weapons and fuel tanks are internal, reducing its radar signal so much that the jet is essentially a ghost to opposition forces.
Production challenges delay delivery
A global network of more than 1,900 commercial partners from 48 states and 10 countries play a role in the F-35’s production. They produce about 156 new jets every year, but there are also challenges.
In May, the Government Accountability Office revealed the Fort Worth facility was running out of space to park F-35s, jets the government would not take delivery of until a hardware and software upgrade known as the Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, could be installed.
The upgrade includes improved displays, better computer memory and more processing power. TR-3 was originally scheduled to begin installation in April 2023, but software problems and difficulties integrating it with the new hardware meant parking new aircraft and waiting for testing.
The scheduled Block 4 upgrade to expand the jet’s weapon-carrying capacity and enhance its electronic warfare capabilities compounded issues because it cannot happen without TR-3.
In July 2024, things changed. After the F-35 joint program office determined operational units could safely fly with a truncated version of TR-3, deliveries resumed with what the Air Force calls a phased approach, with a final goal of delivering F-35s with full TR-3 combat capabilities in 2025. An Alabama Air National Guard unit and Nellis Air Force Base were the first recipients.
Before delivery, Lockheed Martin test pilots put each jet through rigorous testing. The pilots were some of the best F-16 pilots, and now, they make sure the F-35 jets are up to par.
Scott “Shark” McLaren, one of the test pilots, said the new jets’ capabilities build off what an experience pilot already knows.
“Now you have a capability, an airplane that can do those same missions, but you have an airplane that can do those same missions and more,” McLaren said. “And oh, by the way, it’s the pilot that has that same training and level that went into the F-16. Put them into this airplane that has more capabilities. Well, now they’re able to perform up here, and now we’re just talking from a different level altogether.”
In-flight technology expands for faster data processing
In addition to the technology and data capabilities integrated in the plane, the new series of helmets also provides real-time data to pilots and ground crews. The carbon fiber GenTex shell is fitted with the Collins Aerospace helmet-mounted display system. It is a first-of-its-kind technology with a $400,000 price tag.
The heads up display, or HUD, is now built into the helmet rather than affixed in the cockpit. Night vision and visual targeting are also built in, which means the pilot can track a target by looking at it.
“I know that now my imagery, everything that’s going to come out of these oculars, these projectors up at the top, are going to be reflected off of my visor and come right back into my eyes,” McLaren said. “Now I have the information that’s very usable, and from the outside world, very usable on the inside of the cockpit. But it’s not, that’s not just it. So now I have all the other sensors, my radar etc., and everything coming in. I have it on my display out in front, but when i want to translate it from this two dimensional display into the real world, it’s done automatically for me through fusion. And now I just move my helmet around and I can see from what’s on my two dimensional display, I can see it translated into the real world based on where I move my helmet.”
Before military pilots take flight with the F-35 and this new technology, they jump in simulators where test pilots like McLaren can show them how to use all of the new tools available.
Explore the F-35A
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