Source: China Military Network WeChat · China Military Number
According to Flying International reported on April 16, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps successfully completed the first test of the "Lightning Aircraft Carrier" concept. Twenty F-35B fighters with short takeoffs and vertical landings took off from the U.S. Navy's USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship for fast-paced operations.
The "Lightning Aircraft Carrier" concept was formally proposed in 2016, based on the US military's existing "F-35B vertical take-off and landing fighter + amphibious assault ship" model, the name of the "Lightning" in the concept comes from the F-35B "Lightning II." Joint Attack Fighter on board, and the F-35B is only one of the F-35 "Lightning II." Joint Attack Fighter (JSF) models.
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a single-seat, single-engine multi-role fighter and a low-level auxiliary aircraft of the F-22, with strong stealth capabilities, advanced avionics systems and certain supersonic cruise capabilities, mainly used for front-line support, target bombing, air defense interception and other tasks. It is available in three variants: Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) F-35A, Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) F-35B, and Carrier-Based (CV) F-35C. There is no doubt that in the future struggle for air supremacy, the F-35, as one of the world's most advanced fifth-generation aircraft, has a very high photogenic rate. So how do you differentiate them in appearance?
One
Machine emblem
The F-35 "Lightning II." Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is mainly developed by Lockheed Martin of the United States, with the participation of the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Australia, and Canada, with a total cost of $276 billion.
In addition to research and development abroad, South Korea, Japan, and Israel have also vigorously purchased F-35s to enhance their overall air combat capabilities. Therefore, according to the current data, a total of 12 countries have determined to equip the F-35:
According to the image above, there is the Israeli Star of David emblem above the wing, which is an F-35A. (A structure, called the F-35I, shows the F-35A fighter jet previously equipped by the Israeli Air Force.) ）
Two
character
The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps are equipped with three types of F-35 fighters, and identification by insignia is not a panacea. If it is the F-35 equipped by the US military, it can be roughly distinguished by the characters in the belly position under the horizontal tail:
1. U.S. Air Force Symbol (U.S. Air Force F-35A)
2. NAVY (F-35C of the U.S. Navy)
3. MARINES (U.S. Marine Corps purchased F-35B and F-35C models)
In addition, several F-35Cs of the U.S. Navy are also written as "MARINES". But what if you can't see the insignia or characters from the photo angle? This uses the "shape discrimination method".
Three
wingspan
The F-35A and F-35B both have a wingspan of 10.7 meters, while the F-35C adopts a large wingspan design to reduce the landing speed, with a wingspan increased to 13.1 meters and foldable, the largest of the three sub-models.
Four
Nose gear
In order to withstand the impact of the ship, the F-35C type has thickened the nose gear, and the basic single-wheel landing gear has been changed to a two-wheel landing gear, and the front landing gear has a catapult lever unique to the ejection takeoff fighter. The figure below is F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C.
Five
Landing on the stern hook
The F-35C landing ship needs to block the ship, and the engine is equipped with a multiple-use tail hook. Although the F-35A will also install an emergency landing tail hook, it is currently testing the tail hook emergency landing, even if the installation is a one-time.
Six
Side strips
The F-35C main wing leading edge was moved forward to increase the wing area, resulting in side stripes that both the F-35A and F-35B had, which were eliminated on top of the F-35C. The figure below is F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C.
Seven
Back
F-35B is a short take-off / vertical take-off and landing type, due to the special requirements of the take-off and landing mode, the engine of this model adopts a lift fan device, when looking down, the rear of the cockpit is flat, during the take-off and landing process, the lift fan upper cover and auxiliary air intake cover will be opened upwards.
Eight
Cannons
The F-35A was the only one of the three sub-models with a built-in cannon design, equipped with a GAU-22/A four-barrel 25mm Gatling built-in cannon, so there was a distinct protrusion above the front wing of the left wing of the fuselage, which was a significant feature of the shape of the A model. The F-35B and F-35C are not equipped with fixed cannons, and the cannon pod can be mounted in the midline of the belly when necessary.
Nine
Validators, test aircraft and
Low-speed initial production aircraft
Test aircraft and the initial low-speed production F-35 are usually numbered on the fuselage. For example, the F-35A's pre-mass production aircraft fuselage number AA-01, AF-01 to AF-07 even directly marked F-35A, there are "A"; F-35B has BF-01 to BF-04, all with "B"; F-35C has CF-01 to CF-05 in front of the first production CF-06, all with "C".
(Produced by China Military Network WeChat and China Military Number)