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F-35 LIGHTNING II Te s t review
The F-35’s cockpit is nothing short of revolutionary.
A large liquid-crystal colour display dominates
the cockpit. Gone are the myriad of toggle
switches – this is about touch-screens. The
F-35 has been designed from the outset to
be extremely simple and user-friendly, and a
lot of work has been completed to make this
a reality. ‘Finger on glass’ brings the pilot
everything from navigation and threat warnings
to target designation and ordnance displays.
The most prominent feature is an 80 x 20in
touch-screen, with Lockheed Martin preferring
this approach for quick decision-making
compared to voice control. The latter is used
for functions that would otherwise need a
large number of inputs into a keypad, such as
navigation co-ordinates and radio frequencies.
The F-35 has also been designed to make
flying the aircraft as easy as possible. For the
STOVL F-35B, Lockheed Martin wanted a simpler
approach than the complex controls in the
Harrier II. Former F-35 test pilot Jon Beesley
said: “We don’t want pilots to spend all their time
training for take-off and landing [in the F-35B].
In fact, the controls we have come up with are
very un-Harrier-like. [In normal flight] if you are
at high speed, you pull back on the stick and
you go up. If you want to go faster you open
the throttle. We have held this basic concept
for the hover. The left-hand inceptor (throttle)Advanced capabilities
works like cruise control; it commands a
height rate. If the pilot lets go of the stick,
the jet will just sit there.” F-35 test pilot
Dan Canin commented: “The handling
qualities of the F-35B mean you can sit
in a perfect hover by the boat eating
a sandwich until it runs out of fuel!”
The JSF also comes as standard with
a helmet-mounted display (HMD), but
no head-up display (HUD). The helmet
concept is very advanced and features
some impressive capabilities, with what
Lockheed Martin calls a ‘virtual’ head-up
display. The HMD provides information
and forward-looking infrared (FLIR)
imagery in its true location, with night-
vision display capability all around the
aircraft thanks to a 360-degree array of
infrared sensors that form the Electro-
Optical Distributed Aperture System
(EODAS), which uses day and night
cameras. The EODAS literally allows
the pilot to look through the airframe
seeing what the cameras see.
Well-documented issues with the helmet
have been one of the major thorns in the
side of the test programme. Night acuity
and latency were major concerns, but
these have now largely been overcome
by upgrades and workarounds.
The AN/APG-81 active electronically
scanned array (AESA) radar and Electro-
Optical Targeting System (EOTS)
offer infrared search and track data
collection and FLIR point and scene-
tracking capabilities, completing
an impressive suite of sensors.ABOVE: The F-35 cockpit is nothing short of revolutionary. It doesn’t have a head-up display,
but instead relies on a single large multifunction display and an advanced helmet-mounted
symbology system. Lockheed MartinABOVE: The F-35 is cutting edge in so many
ways. It was designed from the outset with
extraordinary sensor/data fusion, allowing the
pilot to concentrate on the mission at hand.
Lockheed Martin/ Darin Russell
LEF T: The Electro-Optical Targeting System
(EOTS) under the nose has been criticised by
some pilots for not moving with the times like
laser designator pods. Jamie Hunter