F-35A Lightning II
Conventional takeoff Lightning: the sensor aircraft that happens to also be a fighter.
- Sensor fusion
- Internal bays
- Helmet-mounted display
- GAU-22 cannon
Specification
- Origin
- United States
- Manufacturer
- Lockheed Martin
- Role
- Stealth multirole
- Generation
- 5
- Introduced
- 2016
- Combat type
- Air
- Spawn code
- f35a
On the server
The F-35A is the conventional runway version of the Lightning II, declared combat ready by the US Air Force in 2016 and now the most widely bought fighter of its generation. It is the only one of the three variants with an internal gun, a four barrel 25 mm GAU-22. Its real advantage is not manoeuvre performance but information: radar, infrared search and distributed cameras are fused into a single picture and projected onto the pilot helmet, which lets the pilot look through the floor of the aircraft. On MCS the A model rewards pilots who fight with sensors rather than reflexes. It sees first, shoots first and stays outside the range where its ordinary turn rate would matter. Forced into a close fight against a Raptor or a Typhoon it is the slower and less agile aircraft. Recommended for methodical pilots who want to win before the merge.