Stealth Fighter Coming Along

The Navy's F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter was rolled out on 28 July in Fort Worth,Texas.A period of comprehensive testing of the aircraft is underway.It has all-weather precision strike capability,plus next generation fused avionics and mission systems.Once it achieves operational status-projected to be in 2015-the fighter will blend in with the Navy's existing Super Hornet aircraft for a number of years until it assumes the central role.Its simplified,low-cost maintenance will lead to higher sortie rates.The Air Force and Marine Corps have their own versions of the Lightning.There is a high degree of commonality among the versions:avionics,engine and software.An internal weapons bay will also characterize all the Lightning versions.Lockheed Martin is lead contractor for the project.