General Characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 50 ft 6 in (15.37 m)
- Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.65 m)
- Height: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
- Wing area: 459.6 ft² (42.7 m²)
- Empty weight: 26,000 lb (12,000 kg)
- Loaded weight: 44,400 lb (20,100 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb (27,200 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan
- Dry thrust: 28,000 lbf (128 kN)[38])
- Thrust with afterburner: 43,000 lbf (191 kN w/AB)
- Secondary (High Performance), in development: 1× General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 afterburning turbofan, >178 kN (40,000 lbf)
- Lift fan (STOVL): 1× Rolls-Royce Lift System in conjunction with either F135 or F136 power plant, 18,000 lbf (80 kN)
Performance
- Maximum speed: >Mach 1.8 (1,200 mph, 1,931 km/h)
- Range: ≈1,200 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,200 km) on internal fuel
- Combat radius: 600 nmi (690 mi, 1,110 km)
- Rate of climb: classified (not publicly available)
- Wing loading: 91.4 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²)
- Thrust/weight:
- With full fuel: 0.968
- With 50% fuel: 1.22[38]
Armament
- 1 × GAU-12/U 25 mm cannon — slated to be mounted internally with 180 rounds in the F-35A and fitted as an external pod with 220 rounds in the F-35B and F-35C.
- Internally (current planned weapons for integration) — up to four AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM internally or two air-to-air and two air-to-ground weapons (up to two 2,000 lb weapons in A and C models; two 1000 lb weapons in the B model) in the bomb bays. These could be AMRAAM, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) — up to 2,000 lb (910 kg), the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) — a maximum of 4 in each bay, the Brimstone anti-armor missiles, Cluster Munitions (WCMD) and High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM). The MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile is currently being adapted to fit internally in the missile spots and may be integrated into the F-35.
- At the expense of being more detectable by radar, many more missiles, bombs and fuel tanks can be attached on four wing pylons and two wingtip positions. The two wingtip pylons can only carry short-range air-to-air missiles (AIM-9s), while the Storm Shadow and Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles can be carried in addition to the stores already integrated. An air-to-air load of 12 AIM-120s and 2 AIM-9s is conceivable using internal and external weapons stations, as well as a configuration of six two thousand pound bombs, 2 AIM-120s, and 2 AIM-9s.
Directed-energy weapons
Directed-energy weapons may be installed in conventional takeoff F-35 Lightning IIs, whose lack of a direct lift fan frees up about 100 ft³ (2.8 m³) of space with access to a drive shaft capable of delivering more than 27,000 hp (20 MW).[39][40] Some concepts, including solid state lasers and high-power microwave beams, may be nearing operational status.[41]
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