Do you like the military of your country? Do you dislike it? This thread is to explain your opinion on how you feel against your military and also to express your love for certain military things (tactics, vehicles, guns, etc). I decided to make this thread because a lot of my mind has been on the military. (Don't think I've told anyone on CG but I'm going to be joining the Army or Air Force sometime after June.)
I'll start off with one of the things that I really enjoy about the US Air Force, a jet!
First off, I would like to express my love for the new generations that are constantly being thought up for jets. All of the new technology in our hands can provide us with new vast weapon systems and anything else that can be though up at the time. One of the new up and coming jets is the F-35, it is set to be released in 2016 and there are very few in service at the moment (which are only for training and testing, no combat missions) since each F-35 costs roughly $107 million dollars.
The F-35 in short terms is a stealth multipurpose air superiority and ground support fixed wing aircraft. There are three classes set for the F-35. The F-35A is a regular style jet with no extra bits (i'll get to that in a second.) It is basically the straight up normal jet that involves conventional take off and landing and will likely be produced the most out of the three other classes. Then comes the F-35B! The F-35B is a STOVL (
Short
Take
Off and
Vertical
Landing) variant. The image you should probably be getting in your head right now is the Harrier, which takes off and lands vertically. Here is a picture of the F-35B, which has its engine set vectored downward to provide thrust.
Personally, the F-35B is my favorite variant out of the other two variants that are available, but it costs rougly $237 million dollars for one of them! The F-35C is a variant that provides foldable wings for the capability of being stored in small spaces in a carrier. The same variant is a CATOBAR (
Catapult
Assisted
Take
Off
But
Arrested
Recovery) type. Which means that it can also be hooked up to a carriers catapult system and be launched off the deck for an extremely quick insertion from sea to air and into enemy territory and to its target. Here is a video that shows what I'm talking about with the catapult system if you need it. (Careful! It's loud!)
Now I will explain more about the F-35.
Full Name: F-35 Lighting II
National Origin: United States of America
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Main Engine: Pratt & Whitney F135 (two variants for B class and A/C). 43,000 lbf (191.35 kN) maximum thrust
Cannon: GAU-22 (Four barrel variant of the GAU-12 Equalizer) 25mm gatling type rotary cannon.
Two Outer Hardpoints: AIM-9X Sidewinder, and the AIM-132 ASRAAM only.
Other Armaments (Weapons Bay): JDAM (
Joint
Direct
Attack
Munition). JSOW (
Joint
Stand
Off
Weapon). AIM-120 AMRAAM BVR AAM, Storm Shadow (air-launched cruise missile). AGM-158 JASSM (
Joint
Air to
Surface
Stand-off
Missile).
There is way too much to explain so I'm going to skip the main points, first of which will be the helmet! Imagine the helmets that gunship helicopter pilots use now, the ones that aim wherever you turn your head! The F-35 has practically the same thing. The user of the F-35 wears a helmet that uses a HUD that allows the weapons systems to lock on and keep track of anything that the pilot is looking at. Here is a picture of it.
Cool right?
I also want to address the cockpit of the F-35. Remember all the really hard to keep track of buttons and dials inside of other jets such as the A-10? Well look no further, for you have recieved a solution! The F-35 features a full crystal touch screen panel in front of the user, which also includes a direct voice input system to improve the pilots ability to operate the aircraft over the current-generation interface.
Here is a full picture of an F-35 if anyone was still wondering.
All in all this is probably one of my favorite jets that the military is currently testing (it's a prototype so it still is a major WIP with lots of problems.)
Post anything about the military or an opinion on the F-35!
(Also sorry if this thread is elsewhere and please tell me if there is.)