F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The F-35 Lightning joint strike fighter (JSF) is being developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and the UK Royal Navy. The fighter is described as a "stealthy, supersonic, multirole fighter" which is being built "in three variants: (1) a conventional take-off and landing aircraft (CTOL) for the U.S. Air Force; (2) a carrier variant (CV) for the U.S. Navy; and (3) a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. (American Federation of Scientists, 2010) The concept demonstration phase is reported to have started in November 1996 when contracts were awarded to Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The contracts were made for the construction of demonstrator aircraft for three different configurations of the Joint Strike Fighter.

Research Questions

The research questions in this study include those as follows:

(1) Is...
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