When the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition was awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2001, there was much excitement. The time was right to begin with a next generation fighter program to replace aging fleets in the U.S. and among its allies abroad, and -- of equal importance -- to keep the defense advanced technology base moving forward and avoid the risk of an international brain drain and military-industrial complex atrophy. The F-35 program that emerged proposed to build a dual-role tactical aircraft capable of both air-to-ground (strike) and air-to-air (fighter) combat operations. It is a fifth-generation aircraft designed to incorporate the most modern technology such as thrust vectoring, composite materials, stealth technology, advanced radar and sensors, and integrated avionics to greatly improve pilot situational awareness. The operational requirements of the F-35 program required 70% to 90% commonality among three versions of the aircraft -- one for each of the Air...(Read Full Article)