The F-35 Lightning at a Glance
The F-35 fighter aircraft is an aircraft made by the United States aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The single-engine all-weather aircraft of the multirole combat aircraft type is commonly referred to as the F-35 Lightning II.
What is special about the F-35 is that it can be used for air warfare (air to air) and at the same time to attack targets on land (air to ground). It first flew in 2006 and is now used by, among others, the Air Force, Marine Corps, and the United States Navy.
Outside America, it is known that the Australian Air Force has operated the F-35, in addition to, of course, close US allies.
As of December 2021, more than 700 F-35 aircraft have been produced. Initially the F-35 was designed as a replacement for the F-16 which needed refinement as a war-proven multipurpose fighter.
What's interesting is that American F-16 pilots commented that once you fly the F-35, you lose your appetite for flying again with the F-16. An impression of how "sophisticated" the F-35 aircraft is.
Expensive F-35 Lightning
Expensive The project to manufacture the F-35 does require an enormous cost after the discontinuation of the F-22 Raptor project. One of the reasons the F-22 Raptor project was discontinued was that it was too expensive and considered useless after the cold war ended in 1991.
The starting point of the end of the "reckless" arms race between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The large F-35 project which is also very expensive is considered still needed by the United States and its allies because it was developed with three variants at once.
In addition to being produced as an aircraft that has the usual take off landing performance, a vertical take off landing variant is also made and a version for take off landing on aircraft carriers. The design of the F-35 aircraft is specifically made to be an aircraft that cannot be detected by enemy air defense radars. That's because the fuselage even though it looks big, but the aerodynamic shape is very streamlined or slim.
A special form of aircraft design made to be difficult to detect by air defense radars. In contrast to the previous fighter aircraft, the weapons they carry are clearly visible, so on the F-35, all weapons are neatly covered, wrapped in the fuselage.
F-35 Lightning Aircraft Capability
The unique performance of the F-35 has made it a reliable replacement for several other aircraft that have been assessed as obsolete, such as the F-16 and F-18 and the A-10 Thunderbolt. The F-35 is truly an excellent fighter aircraft produced for a wide variety of roles and by itself in multiple versions.
Controversy Controversy persists over the exorbitant cost of the F-35 project. Consideration of the super-expensive project but continued with the reason that later it would be much cheaper. In the sense that in addition to being operational in various missions, the maintenance of so many similar aircraft will be much cheaper.
The equipment for supporting and developing the human resources that manpower it is relatively simpler, compared to the costs that must be incurred for the needs of various different aircraft.
That is the F-35 fighter aircraft, a super advanced aircraft with high technology and cannot be detected by air defense radars. A high-tech aircraft with multiple roles, namely for air to air as well as air to ground capabilities far above the F-16, F-18, and A-10.
Until now, as well as high-tech products made in the United States can only be used on a limited basis. So far, only Australia and several other countries close to America, such as Belgium, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands, have or will soon use it.
In the ranks of ASEAN countries, only Singapore has reportedly or will use the super-sophisticated F-35. What is certain is that the United States is a close ally of the United States which will be a top priority in the development of special operations using the latest high-tech weaponry products with lethal weapon qualifications similar to the F-35.
