LIGHTNING IITHE FIGHTER EVOLUTION - F-35

38

F-35 LIGHTNING II F-35A into service

he Lightning II programme has

rewritten the rulebook when it comes

to development and production.

The ‘concurrent’ nature of the programme

means that hundreds of Lightning IIs were in

service before the System Development and

Demonstration testing phase was completed

in April 2018. While this means that

upgrading of early-batch aircraft is required

as glitches are ironed out, it also enables

production to ramp up faster, theoretically

bringing down unit costs through economies

of scale. It also arguably enables end-users to

make extensive use of the new fighter earlier,

and discover flaws that might otherwise only

be recognised after a decade in service.

Lockheed Martin says it’s on track to

bring the unit cost of an F-35A down to

less than $85m by 2019. In 2018, VADM

Mat Winter, the Lightning II’s military

programme manager, said that managing

sustainment costs through life are at the top

of his hit list. According to a recent report,

the high operating costs of the F-35 could

force the US Air Force to cancel some of

the 1,763 F-35As it aims to buy by 2038

unless it can find a way to drive down

operating costs over the next decade.

Unit cost and Lockheed Martin’s monetary

share of each block buy have historically been

major stalling points in F-35 cost negotiations.

Lot 10 saw the F-35A unit cost fall from more

than $100m to $94m, including the engine

and Lockheed Martin’s fee. VADM Winter

said he expects all variants of the F-35 to be

cheaper in Lot 11 than in the previous batch.

Into service

The USAF declared F-35A initial operational

capability (IOC) with the 388th Fighter

Wing’s (FW’s) 34th Fighter Squadron (FS)

at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on August

2, 2016. This milestone required that the

squadron be equipped with between 12 and

24 aircraft, and with personnel capable of

conducting basic close air support (CAS),

interdiction, and limited suppression/

The US Air Force will be numerically the largest

operator of the Lightning II. It has declared initial

operational capability with the F-35A and is

deploying the aircraft globally.

TheUSAirForcewillbenumericallythelargest

A STEALTH AIR FORCE

T

ABOVE: F-35A instructors were the  rst to

train at both Eglin and Luke AFBs. USAF/Samuel

King MAIN IMAGE: The sensor integration,

smart use of data-sharing and low observability

make the F-35A in ‘full-up’ con guration an

impressive beast. Jamie Hunter