Media Galleries : F-35 Lightning II

Mapping the optical properties of a canopy is akin to reverse engineering the optics of a pair of prescription glasses. However, these glasses don’t rest on noses—they surround the heads of fighter pilots. The mapping process is necessary because aerial and ground targets viewed through head-up and helmet-mounted displays are distorted by canopy thickness, curves, and material. Simply put, the canopy can have a direct effect on weapon accuracy.

As of mid-March 2011, the five F-35Bs flying at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, have completed a total of 316 flights and seventy-three vertical landings.

The previous installment of the F-35 Flight Test Update ended with F-35A AF-1 completing its fiftieth flight on 27 August 2010. Since then, the aircraft has been flown an additional thirty flights and a total of more than 140 flight hours.

At high aircraft speeds through supersonic, the bump in the inlet works with the forward-swept inlet cowl to redirect unwanted boundary layer airflow away from the inlet, essentially doing the job of heavier, more complex, and more costly diverters used by current fighters. The flight test program consisted of twelve flights flown in nine days in December 1996.

Anechoic testing on F-35A AF-3 included operating the APG-81 radar, the electronic warfare system, the tactical air navigation system, the identification friend or foe system, and the radar altimeter.

The previous installment of the F-35 Flight Test Update ended with the first vertical landing of an F-35B. Since then, US Marine Corps and Lockheed Martin pilots flying the short takeoff/vertical landing version of the F-35 have gone on to complete an additional nine vertical landings. More than sixty flights have been completed in BF-1, the first F-35B. The F-35B fleet has accumulated more than 200 hours of flight time in more than 160 flights. This gallery covers F-35 flight test milestones from 1 April to 27 August 2010.

F-35 program updates created by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.

F-35 Cooperative Avionics Test Bed, also known as CATBird, is a flying laboratory used primarily to test and develop mission system avionics for the F-35 Lightning II.

As of 23 March 2010, nine pilots have flown more than 200 hours and 160 flights in the System Development and Demonstration phase of the F-35 program. Gallery covers F-35 flight test milestones from 14 November 2009 to 18 March 2010.

The F-35 Lightning II integrates advanced very low observable stealth into a supersonic, highly agile 5th generation fighter that provides the pilot with unprecedented situational awareness and unmatched lethality and survivability. With its host of next-generation technologies and unprecedented capabilities, the F-35 is the world's most advanced multirole fighter.