Interesting Facts About The F-35 Lightning II
STOVL Capability Sets The F-35 Lighting II Apart
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, conducts a vertical landing at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Feb. 2, 2017. VMFA-121 is permanently stationed at MCAS Iwakuni and belongs to Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. The F-35B Lightning II is a fifth-generation fighter, which is the world’s first operational supersonic short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft. The F-35B brings strategic agility, operational flexibility and tactical supremacy to III MEF with a mission radius greater than that of the F/A-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier II in support of the U.S. – Japan alliance.
As mentioned above, the F-35 is expected to operate under a variety of circumstances, including carrier duty. Faced with the challenges of a carrier landing, the designers of the F-35 Lightning II designed it to be STOVL capable. STOVL—Short Take Off Vertical Landing—allows the F-35 to take off from shorter runways while landing vertically on the deck of a carrier. Accomplished by adding a lift fan to the fore of the aircraft and a vectoring duct to the engine, this engineering feat sets the Lighting II apart.