An elliptical wing and responsive handling made the Spitfire an icon of Britain’s air defense and a remarkably adaptable wartime fighter. Continuous development produced versions optimized for interception, reconnaissance, carrier use, and increasingly powerful engines, allowing the design to remain competitive throughout the war.
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
METRICSupermarine SpitfireF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
374 mphREFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
36,500 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
434 miREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 1938REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United KingdomDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
FighterDESCRIPTIVE 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.
