F-35A Lightning II fighter Jet – Advanced Powerful Single Seat/Single Engine
The fifth generation fighter jet, F-35 Lightning II is an advanced powerful single seat as well as single engine fighter which have been designed with the potential of a range of missions with just one aircraft. Test pilot Maj. Charles `Flak’ Trickey had recently fired the F-35A Lightning II fighter’s internal Gun Airborne Unit-22/A 25mm Gatling gun system in three airborne gunfire bursts.
This first aerial gun test was conducted on Oct 30, 2015, at the China Lake, Calif., which was a successful test range. This was the main step in certifying the gun to be used in the F-35A Lightning II fighter and the aircraft seems to be on tract to get into the initial operational ability with the U.S.
Air Force next year. F-35A Lightning II fighter is the outcome of collaboration with the prime contractor Lockheed Martin and the principal partners Northrop Grumman as well as BAE Systems. The aircraft was built with stealth from the very start and the F-35A Lightning II fighter tends to also possess other fifth generation features such as integrated avionics, sensor fusions as well as extremely powerful sensor packages. The Pratt & Whitney F-36 propulsion system tends to provide the aircraft remarkable power and it is capable of reaching speeds of more than 1199 mph.
New Gun – Air-to-Ground/Air-to-Air Targets
With the new gun, pilots would have the capability of engaging air-to-ground as well as air-to-air targets. The 25mm gun is said to be embedded into the F-35A Lightning II fighter’s left wing so that it keeps the aircraft silent.
The testing would continue over the next year with the gun assimilated into the fighter’s sensor fusion software. The software would be providing targeting data to the pilot through the pilot’s state of the art helmet-mounted display.
The helmets on this aircraft are the next generation and pilots wearing them will see through the aircraft where the heads up display would provide unprecedented data. Every pilot would get a personalized version.
Instead of deploying different aircraft specializing in various things, the F-35A would be tackling a variety of task by itself. The F-35A Lightning II fighter, being highly versatile is capable of handling missions like air-to-air battle, electronic attack, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and air-to-ground strikes. The F-35A Lightning II fighter also provides the pilots with the capability of penetrating deep into the enemy areas without being observed.
Advanced Material/Airframe Design – Elude Radars
Due to its advanced material as well as airframe design, the F-35A Lightning II fighter can elude radars which the other fighters are unable to do so. The plane can pass through highly defended air spaces without being noticed and then clear the way for U.S. forces.
Pilots can engage in long range ground targets without being discovered and tracked by the enemy by utilising weapons like precision-guided munitions and air-to-air radar guided missiles. The F-35A Lightning II fighters when faced with enemy fighter enemy aircrafthas several advantages.
To begin with, the F-35A Lightning II fighter pilots would be able to detect the enemy aircraft much before they are discovered which means that in aerial fight, the F-36 can take lethal action first. The fighter’s weapons system would also provide it with a great advantage over the enemy aircraft.
Pilots could also control the aircraft’s advanced electronic warfare capabilities in locating and tracking enemy forces. In order to reach highly protected targets, pilot could jam the enemy radars as well as disrupt attacks on their aircraft on utilising the advanced avionics systems. The aircraft has a core processor which tends to perform an amazing 400 billion operations per second.
