Joint Strike Fighter Program
JSF development is being principally funded by the United States, with the United Kingdom and other partner governments providing additional funding. The partner nations are either NATO members or close U.S. allies. JSF program designed to replace the United States military F-16, A-10, F/A-18 and AV-8B tactical fighter jet aircraft.
Lockheed Martin claims the F-35 is intended to have close and long-range air-to-air capability second only to that of the F-22 Raptor. F-35 has the advantage over the F-22 in basing flexibility and "advanced sensors and information fusion. Being smaller than the F-22, the F-35 has a larger radar cross section. It is roughly equal to a metal golf ball rather than the F-22's metal marble. F-22 was designed to be difficult to detect by all types of radars and from all directions and on the other hand manifests its lowest radar signature from the frontal aspect because of compromises in design. Unlike previous aircraft, such as the F-22, all software for the F-35 is written in C++ for faster code development.
