Video: The media is lying to you about the F-35

Few aircraft in history are as controversial as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II.

The most advanced stealth fighter jet to ever take to the skies, the F-35 Lightning II has had an uneasy life thus far.

The aircraft, projected to cost the United States more than $2 trillion over its six-plus decades of service, has seen repeated cost overruns, production delays, and technical setbacks in the 17 years since it first took to the sky.

But is the program a failure?

“It seems like a week doesn’t go by without another slew of headlines about F-35 production woes, budget bashing averages, and, worst of all, F-35s falling out of the sky. But where if I to tell you that you’ve been lied to. That a combination of bad media practices, cognitive biases, and even foreign disinformation campaigns have colluded to shape your perceptions of this aircraft in the worst possible light,” Alex Hollings, Sandboxx New’s Editor-in-Chief and host of AirPower, says in a recent video.

The F-35 is essentially three aircraft in one as its three versions (A, B, C) have distinctive features unique to them. The F-35A is the conventional version of the aircraft designed to take off and land on normal runways. The F-35B is the Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing (STOVL) iteration that can take off and land like a helicopter but still operate like a fighter jet. Finally, the F-35C is designed to take off and land in aircraft carriers.

If you want to learn more about the F-35’s bag of controversies and why they’re exaggerated, make sure to watch AirPower’s latest episode above.

Feature Image: U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning IIs from the 356th Fighter Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base fly side by side with Republic of Korea Air Force F-35s from the 151st and 152nd Combat Flight Squadrons as part of a bilateral exercise over the Yellow Sea, Republic of Korea, July 12, 2022. Combined training demonstrates our commitmient to the defense of South Korea and is the foundation of maintaining a robust defense posture. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Trevor Gordnier)