The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program was a collaborative project undertaken by the U.S. and partner nations to develop a multirole fighter aircraft.

The U.S. had even more in mind, however, expecting the F-35 to fill gaps in each of its three services with airborne components: the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy.

As a result, the Lightning II comes in three variants. The A, B, and C models are all similar, but important distinctions allow them to meet the needs of their specific service.

Brief History

After a tense competition, Lockheed Martin was selected to develop its X-35 fighter, winning over Boeing’s X-32.

Following this initial success, the program was plagued by delays and design struggles.

Initial plans had the three variants sharing 70% of parts, but the final design ended up sharing only 25% of components.

In the end, though, all three variants are highly capable fighters.

Specs & Capabilities

The Pratt & Whitney F135 engine is a marvel of modern engineering. While the Lightning II is not quite as powerful as the twin-engine F-22 Raptor, it still packs a punch with a top speed of Mach-1.6. Some of the biggest advances of the F-35 are in its complex suite of highly sophisticated sensors such as the AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, technology that allows the aircraft to detect, track, and engage targets at long ranges while synthesizing information and sharing it among platforms and combatants. 

Taking lessons from the F-22, designers focused closely on the F-35’s stealth characteristics. The radar absorbing material used on the surface of the aircraft is far more durable than that used on the Raptor, making for easier long-term maintenance. The diverterless supersonic inlet helps mask the engine and turbine. Care was taken with the design of different external components such that they mask the signature of the Lightning II. All this work paid off. From certain angles the F-35 appears as no more than a metal golf ball.

F-35A - Conventional Takeoff and Landing

The F-35A is the Air Force variant, designed to takeoff from and land on long, paved runways. These parameters arguably made it the easiest to design, as they impose the loosest restrictions on weight and durability. The U.S. Air Force has planned for the F-35 to conduct suppression of enemy air defense missions as well as close air support missions, using its stealthy characteristics to provide timely support in contested environments.

F-35B

The B variant, designed for the U.S. Marine Corps, provided the greatest challenge to Lockheed Martin due to its short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) requirement, which allows the fighter to operate out of small, unfinished airstrips or off of amphibious assault craft. These same assault craft limited the viable wingspan of the Lightning II to 35 feet. In order to achieve STOVL, the F-35B has the smallest internal weapons capacity and shortest range of any of the variants. 

F-35C

Designed for carrier operations, the F-35C is the largest of the three, with folding wings that allow it to fit neatly onto carrier decks. This increased wingspan increases performance at slow speeds, which is crucial for the difficult maneuver of landing on a carrier deck. Furthermore, this gives the F-35C a range of more than 1,200 miles, which is absolutely essential for operating over the open ocean. 

Despite these differences, all F-35 variants are equally formidable. 

Maya Carlin is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. 

Image Credit: Creative Commons.