Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters undergoing final development and testing by the United States. The fifth generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack, aerial reconnaissance, and air defense missions. The F-35 has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) variant. On 31 July 2015, the first squadron was declared ready for deployment after intensive testing by the United States.

The F-35 is descended from the X-35, which was the winning design of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin. Other major F-35 industry partners include Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems. The F-35 took its first flight on 15 December 2006. The United States plans to buy 2,457 aircraft. The F-35 variants are intended to provide the bulk of the manned tactical airpower of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps over the coming decades. Deliveries of the F-35 for the U.S. military are scheduled to be completed in 2037.

United States military aircraft designation systems

The United States Military Aircraft Designation System was first designed in 1919 when the US Army's Aeronautical Division became the United States Army Air Service. Before this aircraft were put into service under their manufacturers' designations.

History

United States Army Air Service 1919 to 1924

During this period Type Designations used by the United States Army Air Service were allotted, using two or three letters, which were an abbreviation of the aircraft's purpose. Examples include GA for Ground Attack aircraft; NO for Night Observation aircraft and NBS for Night Bombardment, Short Distance aircraft.

Army aviation 1924 to 1962

From 1924 to 1947 the Air Service, United States Army Air Corps, United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force used a designation system based on mission category, with each model in a category numbered sequentially. In 1947, the designation system was extensively overhauled, with several categories being dispensed with, and others renamed For instance, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (Pursuit) was redesignated as F-80 (Fighter), while the A-26 medium bomber/attack aircraft was redesignated as the B-26, reusing the designation, the Martin B-26 having retired in the meantime.

After Burner III

After Burner III is a video game released for the FM-Towns home computer in Japan and later ported to the Sega CD in Japan, Europe and North America. It is the third game in the After Burner series, and a port of Strike Fighter, a game released for Japanese arcades, itself a sequel to G-LOC: Air Battle.

The game again has the player flying the F-14 Tomcat, with the same weapons as before. Headquarters has informed the player character that "the enemy" (which the game's introduction does not identify) is reported to be building airfields and bases throughout the desert. His mission is to take out those bases.

After Burner III differs from After Burner II significantly. Several cinematic sequences are featured in the game. The "rolling mode" in the game is now optional. Also, two selectable in-game views are available from the main menu. The default view is the "cockpit", a flight simulator-styled view. The second type of view is "back", which is similar to the After Burner II arcade game.

Joint Strike Fighter program

Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and their allies. After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35, a final design was chosen based on the X-35. This is the F-35 Lightning II, which will replace various tactical aircraft, including the US F-16, A-10, F/A-18, AV-8B and British Harrier GR7 & GR9s. The projected average annual cost of this program is $12.5 billion with an estimated program life-cycle cost of $1.1 trillion.

Project formation

The JSF program was the result of the merger of the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) and Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) projects. The merged project continued under the JAST name until the engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) phase, during which the project became the Joint Strike Fighter.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington, DC, area. Lockheed Martin employs 116,000 people worldwide. Marillyn Hewson is the current President and Chief Executive Officer.

Lockheed Martin stands as one of the world's premier companies in the aerospace, defense, security, and technologies industry; it is the world's largest defense contractor based on revenue for fiscal year 2014. In 2013, 78% of Lockheed Martin's revenues came from military sales; it topped the list of US federal government contractors and received nearly 10% of the funds paid out by the Pentagon. In 2009 US government contracts accounted for $38.4 billion (85%), foreign government contracts $5.8 billion (13%), and commercial and other contracts for $900 million (2%).