![]() ![]() The pilot will have unparalleled 'situational awareness' or a 'God's eye' view of the battlefield projected on large colour cockpit displays using radar, sensors and off-board datalinks. The JSF in service will be a supersonic stealthy strike aircraft, with the latest precision weapons, such as GPS and laser-guided bombs, as well as air-to-air missiles to engage other aircraft. Improving the Harrier's vertical flight is the most difficult to achieve, and Boeing and Lockheed Martin took radical paths to accomplish this.īoeing opted for an update of the Harrier's direct lift system, while Lockheed Martin went for an innovative lifting fan driven by the main engine. The JSF will come in several variants all having a great deal in common a baseline air force model, a carrier version with folding wings and a short take-off, vertical landing (STOVL) variant that will replace Harriers in US and UK inventories. In US service, the JSF will replace such strike aircraft as the F-16, A-10 Warthog and F/A-18 Hornets.įor the UK, it will succeed the RAF's Harrier GR7s and the Royal Navy's Sea Harrier FRS2s.Īs an added benefit using one type of strike fighter among allies promotes "interoperability", a buzzword for today's militaries that need to fight in coalitions with other nations. The affordability of the new fighter will also be helped by the bulk buy involved, with over 3,000 to be bought by the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and the UK RAF and Royal Navy. The JSF's key design feature then, is affordability, with both Lockheed Martin and Boeing using virtual reality, rapid prototyping and flying demonstrators (which completed their tests in August) to drive down costs. ![]() The new fighter must be able to take-off vertically
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