Earlier this month the US Air Force told Reuters that America’s most expensive weapons system ever built is on track for “initial combat use” by September 2016.
Designed and manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s massive production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the F-35 Lightning II can carry an impressive 18,000 pounds of lethal ammunition.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program includes three variant aircrafts (the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C), each designed to meet the specific needs of America’s sister service branches and a number of foreign military buyers like the United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, Japan, South Korea, and Israel.
Lockheed Martin says that each F-35A jet, also referred to as the Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL), costs $108 million (including engine) and is the most requested of the three aircrafts. Thus far, approximately 65 of the anticipated 1,763 F-35A jets have been delivered to the Department of Defense.
The F-35’s carry a similar arsenal except that the F-35A is the only variant to feature an internal cannon, which is located on the left side of the jet between the cockpit and wing.
Here’s an infographic of the weapons the jets are designed to carry:
More from Business Insider:
- The US and Iran are closer in Iraq than people realize — and things are getting ugly
- Obama reveals his dream for the Middle East
- Russia is flexing its muscles in Central America
- These are the plans for Russia’s new 3rd-generation tank
- The F-35 relies on a $400,000 helmet that’s had its own share of problems
This article originally appeared at Business Insider Defense Copyright 2015. Follow BI Defense on Twitter.
