The Spirit’s blended flying-wing shape, radar-absorbing materials, and global range let it penetrate defended airspace for long-range strategic strike missions. With no vertical tail and few conventional reference shapes, the aircraft depends on sophisticated flight controls and meticulous surface maintenance to preserve both stability and low observability.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICB-2 SpiritF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
Mach 0.95REFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
6,000+ miAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 1997REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Stealth strategic bomberDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
