The F-35 is so stealthy, pilots are reportedly having difficulty participating in some types of training exercises.
According to the Air Force Times here, during an exercise at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the US, F-35 squadrons wanted to practice evading surface-to-air threats however no one on the ground could track the jets.
Lt. Col. George Watkins, the commander of the 34th Fighter Squadron said:
“If they never saw us, they couldn’t target us, we basically told them where we were at and said, ‘Hey, try to shoot at us’.”
The F-35s had to resort to turning on their transponders, used for FAA identification, so that simulated anti-air weapons could track the aircraft, Watkins added.
The F-35 features a significant amount of British developed components, in addition to 15% of every jet sold globally being built in Britain.
As the only Level 1 partner, the United Kingdom has garnered tremendous economic benefits from the F-35. British industry will build 15% of each of the more than 3,000 planned F-35s, in addition to a large volume of British developed aircraft systems including the electronic warfare suite.
The programme at peak will generate significant export revenue and GDP growth. The programme is projected to create and support more than 24,000 jobs across every region of the United Kingdom.
The more I read the more I am thrilled that we are buying these. Daniel Clemins nailed it earlier these jets are going to be game changers and the RAF / RN syllabus is being rewritten to include their capabilities.
Exciting times ahead and to see them deployed on the QE carriers will be outstanding
Oh F-35 haters, where art thou now!
Having a Hate Seyonace somewhere
Think most of them were, dare I say it (I’ll whisper it) r….e….m…a….I….n….e….r….s shhhh
I’m Proudly a remainer and life long supporter of National Defence projects. I think you will find Mark that a disike of EU sized cucumbers does not mean that you have a better judge of the capabilities of MOD procurement choices.
I think it was having to buy the B type, & their reduced capability, due to not having cats on our new carriers which turned people off the F35 in the UK anyway.
Gareth Dempsey Catapult systems don’t feel very British
‘Cept we invented most of the systems they employ. Steam engines are British. Doesn’t mean we should still be using them. Critical mass for catapault carriers is twice the fleet we are prepare to pay for. You are better off with ski ramp carriers when you only operate a few.
Saud Akmal Goraya Ahmad Shoaib AhmAd IbrAhim in SJ guys..
I still find this hard to believe…this is single source…wait until it is in service and flying against non benign systems.
Radar is still radar.
So, while an enemy system may be better than what the USAF train with, there is no situation where a LO aircraft is worse off than a legacy aircraft.
Unless supersonic turn or top speed is the deciding factor rather than LO.
Glad that’s going to be one of the aircrafts we are buying,138 might not sound many,but if they turn out to be that good,then it money well spent
A second buy is still an option with such a long production run. So many out their will offer a secondhand market too.