{"id":53441,"date":"2023-10-16T19:29:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T17:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=53441"},"modified":"2024-10-16T00:08:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:08:17","slug":"the-spectacular-display-of-an-f-35c-the-largest-and-heaviest-version-of-this-fighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/10\/16\/the-spectacular-display-of-an-f-35c-the-largest-and-heaviest-version-of-this-fighter\/","title":{"rendered":"The spectacular display of an F-35C, the largest and heaviest version of this fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The F-35 has already become a famous and widespread fighter. According to Lockheed Martin data<\/a>, more than 965 aircraft have already been delivered.<\/p>\n

The purchase of the F-35 by Czechs and Romanians, bad news for the Spanish Navy<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe plans of Spain to replace its EF-18M fighters: will the F-35 finally arrive?<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Possibly, the least talked about version is the F-35C, which is the one designed to operate on the large aircraft carriers of the United States Navy<\/strong>. The US is currently the only operator of this variant of this stealth fighter: the Navy has 273 aircraft and the Marine Corps has 67<\/strong> (since the USMC also operates its fighters from large aircraft carriers, generally on missions of attack and close support).<\/p>\n

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The three versions of the F-35. From right to left, the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C (Photo: Lockheed Martin).<\/div>\n

The F-35C is the largest and heaviest model of this fighter:<\/strong> it has a wingspan of 13.1 meters (compared to 10.7 meters for the F-35A and F-35B), a wing of 62.06 square meters (42.74 in the other two variants) and a weight of 15.6 tons (the F-35A weighs 13.1 and the F-35B 14.7). The F-35C is also the one that can carry the most fuel<\/strong> (8,958 kg), the one with the greatest autonomy<\/strong> (2,200 km) and the largest combat radius (1,241 km).<\/p>\n

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The differences between the three versions of the F-35: the F-35A (left), the F-35B (center) and the F-35C (Source: Lockheed Martin).<\/div>\n

The reason for the larger size of the F-35C is that it needs to be able to land at a lower speed on aircraft carriers<\/strong>, which is why it has a larger wingspan and also larger stabilizers. Likewise, the F-35C has two wheels on its front landing gear<\/strong>, unlike the F-35A and F-35B, which only have one. This double wheel is a typical configuration of US Navy embarked aircraft and is due to the force of the impact they have to endure when landing on the flight deck. In addition, the F-35C has a landing hook<\/strong> on its rear, right next to the nozzle, which is used to grab one of the arresting cables that US aircraft carriers have on their landing strips.<\/p>\n

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Unlike the other two variants of this fighter, the nose gear of the F-35C has two wheels, a typical feature of the US Navy's naval fighters (Image: U.S. Navy).<\/div>\n

Another difference with its two brothers is that the F-35C has folding wingtips<\/strong>, to be able to park it better on the crowded flight decks and hangars of aircraft carriers. Obviously, it's not all advantages. This design means that the F-35C supports less gravitational force (7.5 g) than the F-35A (9 g)<\/strong>, although it is somewhat greater than that of the F-35B used by the Marines (7g). Furthermore, according to Lockheed Martin<\/a>, the F-35C is the variant that requires the most maintenance hours<\/strong> (10 per man per flight hour, compared to 4.7 for the F-35A and 7.1 for the F-35B) and the least reliable, having an average of only 3.4 flight hours between each failure<\/strong> (compared to 12 for the F-35A and the 7.4 of the F-35B).<\/p>\n

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An F-35C landing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. The aircraft has its landing hook extended (Image: U.S. Navy).<\/div>\n

Last July, an F-35C from the Marines' Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101<\/strong> put on a spectacular aerial display at AirVenture 2023 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. AirshowStuffVideos<\/a> published the video of this exhibition last Friday<\/strong> , a good opportunity to see the big brother of the F-35 family in flight:<\/p>\n