America's "jack of all trades" F-35s were developed to dogfight, provide close air support, execute long-range bombing attacks, and take off from and land on aircraft carriers - all while using the most advanced available stealth capabilities.
Designed and manufactured at Lockheed Martin's massive Fort Worth facility, the F-35 Lightning II can carry an impressive 18,000 pounds of lethal ammunition.
Below is a photo of the F-35A (one of the three F-35 variant aircraft) and its weapons suite:
The now nearly $400 billion F-35 weapons program was developed in 2001 to replace the US military's F-15, F-16, and F-18 aircraft. Since its inception, the fifth generation stealth jet has experienced setbacks that include faulty ejection seats, software delays, helmet display issues, and an inability to dogfight.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 program includes three variant aircraft (the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C), each designed to meet the specific needs of America's sister service branches and a number of foreign military buyers such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, Japan, South Korea, and Israel.
Lockheed Martin says that each F-35A, also referred to as the Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) jet, costs $108 million (including the engine) and is the most requested of the three aircraft. Thus far, approximately 65 of the anticipated 1,763 F-35A jets have been delivered to the Department of
The F-35 variants carry a similar arsenal except that the F-35A is the only variant to feature an internal cannon, which is located on the left side of the jet between the cockpit and wing.
