Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is going to be the mass produced 5th generation aircraft of the 21st century. Until 26 October 2001 there was an ongoing competition between Lockheed Martin (designer of aircraft on the left, the X-35) and Boeing (designer of aircraft on the right, the X-32). The winner of this competition will produce theF-16's replacement. Unlike the F-22, the JSF will be a relatively low cost aircraft. The U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Royal Navy, and the US Marine Corps will use the JSF.

Overall the airframes will be alike with a few exceptions; the U.S. Air Force version will be a conventional takeoff multi-role fighter. The U.S. Navy's version of the JSF will be similar to the Air Force version except with a stronger internal structure, landing gear, and arresting hook to allow carrier landings. The U.S. Marine Corps and Britain's Royal Navy version (X-35B) will have a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capability thus allowing this version of the JSF to land almost anywhere. The JSF will use many of the advanced technologies employed in the F-22 yet still remain a low cost 5th generation fighter. It is scheduled to enter service in around 2012.

On 7 July 2006, with a nod to Air Force history, the US service's chief of staff has dubbed the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter "Lightning II". Gen. T. Michael Moseley announced the decision Friday at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where the stealthy multi-role fighter is made. He based the decision on input received from airmen as well as the other services and coalition partners involved in the JSF program. TheP-38 Lightning, the JSF's namesake, was designed in the late 1930s and was used during World War II. The name also refers to a supersonic British jet called the BAC LIGHTNING, built in the 1950s by English Electric. English Electric eventually became BAE Systems, an industry partner on the program. Moseley considered five other names: Mamba, Cyclone, Piasa, Reaper and Spitfire II. The ceremony also marked the first public unveiling of the F-35A, the conventional take-off-and-landing variant.