The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is the primary multirole stealth combat aircraft for the United States military. It’s a single seat and single engine jet, designed for establishing air superiority and flying strike missions while remaining undetected. The geometry of the F-35’s design combined with a special paint makes the surface of the aircraft very smooth. This minimization of curves and rough components causes enemy radar waves to bounce off in very specific directions, away from the receiver, that would show the jet’s position.
It is for these reasons that the F-35 is widely considered the best military jet in the world. It can perform a large variety of roles, including combating enemy fighter aircraft, conducting strikes against ground targets, and gathering intelligence on enemy positions. The most common F-35s are the A and B variants. The A variant is a more conventional aircraft. It uses a standard runway to take off and land and has a fixed engine orientation. The B variant opts to replace some of the fuel tanks with a small, secondary engine pointed upwards, and a mechanism that allows the main engine’s nozzle to be aimed downwards. This lets the B variant take off vertically, similar to a helicopter, which eliminates the need for a smooth runway (but also means more weight and less range).
However, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the F-35. Although it is a safe aircraft, its extreme complexity means that failures can be unexpected and the first of their kind. In 2014, an F-35A caught on fire and was destroyed due to a failure in the third stage rotor of the engine. In 2021, a highly explosive bullet fired from an F-35B’s belly-mounted gun detonated immediately after being fired, sending shrapnel toward the plane and pilot. In 2022, an F-35A lost all electronics and power after a malfunction described as “a series of bangs,” with the pilot barely landing the plane following the incident. Also in 2022, another F-35A crashed after experiencing errors in the air data system, causing rapid switching between primary and backup protocols, and an F-35B crashed after a failure in its vertical take off system.
The two most significant crashes occurred in 2023 and 2020. In 2023, a pilot ejected from his F-35B at only one thousand feet of altitude after a training mishap in South Carolina. The plane, now completely unaccounted for, is expected to rapidly crash after ejection. Instead, it flew another sixty miles before smashing into a field in rural Williamsburg County. Safety software failed to deactivate and kept the plane in level flight until it finally crashed. In 2020, an F-35A crashed while landing at Eglin Air Force Base. The pilot ejected and was rescued, but the plane was destroyed. The crash was officially attributed to the fatigued pilot, who lost control due to the plane’s confusing and distracting nature. Additionally, the head-mounted display malfunctioned, and the flight control system was unresponsive.
So why does the F-35 still see so much use? Mainly because the issues are not consistent. The only repeating complaint is the confusing and complicated controls and interfaces, simply a byproduct of its advanced design and capabilities. This is very important because it means that the jet lacks a “fatal flaw.” There is no one issue that prevents it from being fully utilized. This makes the F-35 the most reliable way to perform stealthy operations. It is a generally consistent aircraft that, despite occasional difficulties, is better and more versatile than any other. As technology advances, the F-35 may fade out of use, but the solid framework that it has set makes it likely that many of our future stealth aircraft will be based on its design. Therefore, although it may be replaced, the F-35 Lightning II cannot be forgotten and will remain a cornerstone of aerial stealth combat.
