F-35 Lightning II

Lightning II
Faction	USMC
Type	Stealth Multi-Role Fighter
Seats	1 seat: 1× Pilot
Item capacity	Max: 3× Weapons 20× Magazines
Top speed	~ 926 km/h
Fuel capacity	1000 fuel units
Primary armament	Main: 1× GAU-22 25 mm 2× GBU-12 LGB 2× AIM-9L Sidewinder AA
Secondary armament	Defensive: 120× Countermeasures (Flares/Chaff)
Variants	None
Games

The F-35 Lightning II is a carrier-based, multi-role fighter jet used exclusively by U.S. Marine aviation wings in ArmA 2.

Overview

• Role:
  • Close air support

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The F-35 Lightning is a single-seat single-engine stealth-capable military multirole strike fighter. It is capable of providing close air support, tactical bombing or air combat missions. The F-35B is the Short-TakeOff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of F-35 prototype. It is armed with two guided bomb units, dual AIM-9 air-to-air guided missile platforms, and with a 25 mm cannon. Armoury Description

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Design

The F-35 is a single-engined stealth fighter that uses a conventional swept wing design and horizontal stabilisers with outwardly canted vertical tails.

Armament
By default, the F-35 is armed with a 25 mm cannon that is loaded with 220 rounds of high-explosive (HE) ammunition. The pylons within the internal weapons bay are fitted with two laser guided bombs and two short-range air-to-air infrared guided missiles.

Taxiing for take off. Note the raised auxiliary fan doors, indicating that the F-35 is in VTOL mode.

Features
Designed with stealth in mind, the F-35 uses an internal weapons bay as opposed to external wing-mounted hardpoints on conventional fixed-wing jets. The F-35 is also V/STOL-capable, and can take off and land on almost every flat surface without the need to operate from an airfield.

Drawbacks
However, the F-35 is far less useful compared to the AV-8B or the Su-34 when it comes to providing close air support. It cannot efficiently attack ground targets on its own without ground forces laser marking targets for its LGBs, nor does it possess any air-to-ground anti-tank missiles.

To top it all off, because radar stealth is not actually simulated in ArmA 2, the internal weapons bay configuration and avionic advantages of it being a stealth aircraft are rendered completely useless. In addition, it only carries two short range AA missiles at a time, meaning that the F-35 cannot serve in an air superiority role as well.

Its sole saving grace is that unlike the Su-34 it has V/STOL capability, which it will automatically transition to-and-from while the aircraft remains at subsonic speeds. Although the AV-8B also possesses VTOL capability, it is much more difficult to manoeuvre in VTOL mode compared to the F-35. On the other hand, the F-35's VTOL mode is far less sluggish and allows its pilot to even control the jet like a helicopter.

In all other aspects, ArmA 2's F-35 is vastly inferior to its conventional and Russian counterparts in virtually every way.

Crew Capacity
The F-35 has a maximum seating capacity of just one. It is unable to transport passengers or additional crew.

Protection

The F-35 has a base armour value of 40.

Hull

The F-35's hull can only withstand 40 points of damage. Depletion of the hull's integrity will instantly result in a total loss.

Armament

The F-35's pilot exclusively controls all of the onboard weapon systems. Aside from the GAU-22 cannon, all ordnance is launched via the F-35's internal weapons bay:

GAU-22

Base damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Initial velocity (m/s)
56	-0.00062	1,040

25 mm Gatling cannon. Fires HE-based shells useful for Within Visual Range (WVR) dogfights.

It can attain a fire rate of up to ~ 3,300 rounds per minute and has a muzzle velocity of 1,040 m/s. The cannon itself has an effective firing range of between 400 and 1,500 metres. Accuracy-wise, the GAU-22 has a dispersion of 0.0024 rad at all ranges.

GBU-12

Base damage value	Maximum speed (m/s)
5,000	N/A

Laser-guided bomb. Can also lock onto IR strobes. It can optionally be employed as an unguided gravity bomb.

There is a delay of 0.2 seconds in-between bomb drops. The bombs themselves have a blast radius of 12 metres and are capable of destroying any ground vehicle in a single hit.

AIM-9L Sidewinder

Damage type	Base damage value	Maximum speed (m/s)
High-Explosive	200	828

Infrared-guided air-to-air missile. Has a maximum lock-on range of 9,000 metres.

There is a delay of 0.1 seconds in-between missile launches. 30 seconds will be required to reload a fresh batch of missiles at a logistical vehicle (assuming the F-35 has run out). It takes a total of 5 seconds for the missile's motor to reach a top speed of 828 m/s in mid-flight.

The seeker has a 20% chance to lose lock against flare countermeasures. Its warhead has a blast radius of 10 metres.

Avionics

MAWS

The F-35 has an integrated Missile Approach Warning System and will warn the pilot when there are incoming missiles.

RWR

The F-35 possesses a Radar Warning Receiver and will alert the pilot when they are being locked onto by radar-based targeting systems.

IWR

The F-35 has an Infrared Warning Receiver. It will warn the pilot when they are being targeted by infrared-based weapon systems.

Trivia

The in-game F-35 is actually based on the "X-35B", a prototype variant of Lockheed Martin's "X-35" V/STOL-capable stealth fighter. The X-35B itself was never designed for military service, as it was only ever meant to be a prototype submitted by Lockheed Martin as their entry for the U.S. military's Joint Strike Fighter programme. In addition, the appearance of the F-35B in ArmA 2 is highly anachronistic as it would not be certified for IOC (Initial Operational Capability) with the U.S. Marine Corps until 2015, nor would it be forward deployed for the first time until 2017. In subsequent updates included as part of the CorePatch updates (for the Steam release of ArmA 2), the F-35 was refactored to use a GAU-22 cannon as opposed to the GAU-12. This change is largely cosmetic however, with the only real difference resulting in the F-35's ammunition capacity reduced to 220 rounds as opposed to 300. The GAU-22 also has a (barely) higher ROF compared to the GAU-12, though this change is negligible given the GAU-22's lower ammunition count. Along with the MV-22 Osprey and the AV-8B Harrier, the F-35 is one of the only three VTOL-capable aircraft in ArmA 2. The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content. Several early screenshots and videos showed the F-35 in action during the pre-Alpha phase of ArmA 3's development, where it was originally known as the F-38 (alternately called the F-35F in some cases). It was later clarified that the F-38/F-35F was only ever meant to be a placeholder used to test the fixed-wing flight model and PhysX interaction with jets in ArmA 3. Despite being a placeholder however, the ArmA 3 F-38/F-35F is shown using a completely new texture with a two-tone grey paint scheme as opposed to the solid light grey scheme of the ArmA 2 F-35B. The F-38/F-35F makes an appearance as a deployable unit with the release of Update 1.11 for ArmA: Mobile Ops, now known as the X35 Jet. Interestingly, the X35 sports a digital camouflage pattern paint scheme and has weapons mounted externally on pylons fitted to its wings. Its overall design also bears a stronger resemblance to the real-world "F-35A" variant.

Gallery

Pre-Alpha ArmA 3 F-38s/F-35Fs. Note the unique camouflage scheme.

Ditto, but for the fuselage's underbelly.

External links

• Wikipedia: Lockheed Martin X-35
• Wikipedia: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

See also

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration

• AV-8B Harrier (Alternate USMC counterpart)
• Su-34 (Russian Armed Forces counterpart)
• F/A-181 Black Wasp II (NATO successor, ArmA 3: Jets only)