It's been a long time coming. The F35-B Lightning II has finally made a vertical landing. It happened on the 18th of March. (Video)
The 'B' part of the designation does not signify it comes after the 'A' version. They are three aircraft that share 80% common parts. The F35-A, the F35-B and the F35-C.
The F35-A is a conventional take off and landing Stealth Fighter, the F35-B is the STOVL (Short Takeoff, Vertical Landing) version, and the F35-C the Carrier based version.
The F35 comes from a development of the JSF (Joint Services Fighter) contract signed November 16 1996. The contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) was signed with Lockheed Martin 26 October 2001 after the Lockheed Martin X (Experimental) 35 consistently outperformed the Boeing X-32, although both exceeded the design requirements.
In later development the F35-B proved to be a problem. Basically it weighed too much. Lockheed-Martin had to shed 2000lb and increase power to meet performance requirements. This objective was achieved mainly through the use of a thinner skin.
The F35 is a smaller and lighter aircraft than the F22 Raptor and cannot fly as fast or has high, but follows the design philosophies and is similar in appearance.
Lockheed-Martin also purchased design data from the Yakovlev Design Bureau coming from their development of the Yakovlev Yak-141 'Freestyle for use with the F35-B. There is something ironic about Lockheed-Martin buying technology from an obsolete USSR fighter for use in their new Stealth fighter. It was a little more complicated than that. When Yak had its funding cut for the then Yak 41M Lockheed-Martin stepped in with funding for Yak to continue development, and of course Lockheed-Martin benefited by way to access to the developed technology.
