The F-35 Lightning: Jack of All Trades, or Master of None?

Alternatively, the thumbnail for this video could just be an oversized pile of money.

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[carportchronicles]

In early 2006 I worked in the Public Affairs Department aboard USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72. One of my tasks at that time was escorting a couple Lockheed engineers around the ship while we were underway so they could better understand the environment the F-35 would be operating in and the capabilities we had for servicing aircraft at sea. One thing which I remember clearly was their surprise at seeing flight deck crew members physically pushing aircraft around the flight deck by hand. Essentially, a number of flight deck crew would go up to an aircraft which needed to be moved and move it by pushing on the wings leading edges. The engineers immediately stated they would need to strengthen the wings of the Navy version to accommodate this practice. I still have the hat and F-35 pin they gave me as a thank you for showing them around the ship.

[Beshman]

Saw one live at one of the Farnborough Air Show. Zoomed in, stopped, hovered, did a 360° on the horizontal and zoomed off again. Cool stuff

[CallsignEskimo-lo]

To be fair, the $1.7T figure is the through life cost of the aircraft and reflects operating 2, 000 F-35s until 2077, including capital cost, fuel, weapons, spares, maintenance and wages.

[hazlstet]

this quote is ALWAYS used incorrectly.
"A jack of all trades is master of none but it still always better than a master of one"
people dont understand how much this aircraft if capable of.
the F35 leaped years ahead of the market had to offer and it completely changed how air control is/will be achieved.

[southernyankeehomestead]

One thing you didn't mention about the VTOL. An inherent weakness in the harrier is when landing it's a controlled crash and taking off it still requires a bit of runway. This is because of the vectored thrust. IF or WHEN the engine sucks up its own exhaust if causes a flame out situation and a stalling of the engine. When landing the last 30 to 50 feet are very fast due to this known issue. The side effect of the F35's shaft driven fan is by sucking fresh air from above the aircraft and pushing it below it effectively creates and air curtain that prevents the engine from sucking up its own exhaust.

[CK]

PILOT: "F35: add lasagne sheets, milk and some recces pieces to my list"
F35: "Lasagne sheets, milk and recces pieces, should I order those now"?
PILOT: "F35: Let's not tempt fate, order once we've left enemy airspace"

[drmattconrad]

The trick to being a successful military contractor is to employ people in as many congressional districts as possible.

[usmcrn]

As an aviation Officer, in my opinion the aircraft is overall outstanding.. not perfect.. but logistically and functionally outstanding which over time DOES save money with interchangeable parts and making maintenance and the logistics of supporting the aircraft much more efficient.

[WChocoleta]

I'm sorry, but are you kidding me that the F-35 "has a less powerful engine than the Harrier"? The Pratt-Whitney F135-PW600 engine used on the F-35B has a maximum hovering thrust of 180kN, compared to around 106kN of thrust provided by the Harrier's Rolls-Royce Pegasus. Even without the lift-fan, the F135 generates 120kN of thrust, not to mention it could be further boosted by the afterburner in-flight. The F135 is actually the SINGLE MOST POWERFUL jet engine to have ever been mounted on a fighter jet.

[jhenniebaysic]

Some correction.

They didn't yet spend $400B for the F-35 as of now. That $400B development and procurement cost of over 2, 447 F-35(all variants). At the moment from what i recall reading they spend around $150+B for buying around 800 jets and its development.

The $1.7T cost of the F-35 include the following
1. Development Cost
2. Procurement of 2, 447 jets
3. Upgrades until 2070
4. Operational cost of the jets until 2070+(includes everything from salary of crews and pilots, spare parts and the estimated inflation to that date)

[myblacklab]

"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one."
Everyone forgets the second part of this saying.

[usmcrn]

I used to work on AV-8B Harrier (the only foreign weapons system that the US military had accepted in more than 50 years), and that thing.. the F-35, is far superior and more flexible. It was a good choice and a smart investment.

[themanyouwanttobe]

I laughed but I wouldn't be surprised if "looking really stupid" were actually a determining factor. Bunch of military tough guys don't want to be flying around in a death machine that looks like a meme.

[GuernB]

A lot of wrong information at 10:33. The F35 does not have less thrust than the Harrier, it has nearly double. The best version of the Pegasus engine only makes 23800 lbf of thrust compared to the F35's 40000 lbf. These are both single engine aircraft.

[tanongnuchbua]

The F135 engine in the F35 produces nearly twice the thrust of the Pegasus in the Harrier. 40, 000 lbs vs 23, 000 lbs. the lift system on the harrier is more efficient than the F35 however it uses a high bypass turbofan which limits the top speed to subsonic. Lift fans are less efficient but mean you can use a turbojet engine and so go supersonic. To go supersonic in a Harrier you would need to develop plenum chamber afterburners to increase the exhaust gas airspeed.

[electrolysisresearch]

The F-35 gets an extremely undeserved amount of flack. I love the F-35 and think it was an amazing plane and an amazing concept especially for the Marines, I mean that's a huge upgrade for me harrier. You got a Beyond visual range beast that is completely unmatched, and the funny thing is an F-35 is not designed to shoot down their planes, say it again for the people who don't understand LoL. It actually was replacing the F-117 nighthawk is its main purpose. A F-35 is mostly an attack plane, and it leads groups of at least three unmanned drones to penetrate enemy lines and sweep out air defense systems, so the fourth generation fighters and bombers can advance. It also is a superpowered advanced AI with the ability to do amazing electronic warfare against radar systems. The F-35 is a small one engine aircraft and has amazing range considering what it is, and people underestimate It's ability to hover in mid dogfight, that gives it a really tricky advantage at super low speed low altitude, because it can recover from a stall turn into a helicopter and shoot you down then fly off. I have been playing combat simulators for a long time with aircrafts that can hover, it gives you something else to think about. And the engine problems people complain about is really ridiculous, they just had to beef up to turbine blades after 12 years. And they were literally never even offline for maintenance, all they did is simply replace parts sooner than predicted. And the F-35 is about to get a huge engine upgrade it will have a XA101 Ramjet engine hybrid. It is a rebuild kit that drops straight into its existing engine casing.

[psquared]

would love one on the F-22 as well if there isn't already. Probably another hard one with all the classified info but it'd be cool to compare/contrast

[kbahrt]

Simon, the image at 7:51 is actually F22s in production, you can see the two engine compartments and neck down in the center. The 35 has a single central engine.

[Destroyer_V]

When you consider that the US is selling this aircraft to other major allies of the US, such as australia. Who did not previously have, any sort of stealth aircraft. It is a massive boon.

[CamoDrako]

Along with everything that is said in these comments which i agree with, the internal bomb bay is such an insane feature. Every plane with external armament is extensively hindered compared to its empty configuration, but an internal bomb and missile bay on a fighter alone makes control consistency and usability leaps and bounds above contemporary aircraft