A volume from the series Technology @ War. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was developed as part of the largest armament programme in history and is now being produced on a larger scale than any other manned combat aircraft in the world. Its capabilities have a greater impact on the global balance of power than those of any other military asset. The extent to which the US armed forces and the US's strategic partners rely on this type of fighter aircraft is unprecedented: the majority of the US Air Force's fighter aircraft procurement, all of the Marine Corps' procurement and, from 2027, all of the Navy's procurement will be accounted for by the F-35. As the only fighter aircraft of its generation produced in the Western world, multiple tenders have repeatedly concluded that the F-35 is in a league of its own compared to other Western fighter aircraft, giving the programme particular significance in times of high geopolitical tension. This book details the key trends in fighter aircraft engineering and technology in general that have influenced the development of the F-35, the design features and evolving capabilities of the aircraft, how it has been tested, manufactured, procured and deployed, and the increasingly diverse tasks it is expected to perform. It draws on numerous interviews to provide insights into various aspects of the programme, from production to frontline deployment. The management of the programme, from efforts to reduce procurement and maintenance costs to decisions on the integration of new technologies, is examined in detail. The global nature of the F-35 programme, the factors that have contributed to its great export success, and the aircraft's ability to meet the challenges of a range of adversarial capabilities are described in detail, as are the likely future developments of the programme as it moves into the sixth generation era. The book highlights both the enormous successes of the F-35 programme, many of which are completely unprecedented and unique, and its numerous, often serious shortcomings, which have resulted in the aircraft being less groundbreaking than originally intended.
