The video in this post features Billie Flynn, Lockheed Martin Experimental test pilot, explaining some of the key differences between flying a 4th Generation aircraft and the F-35 Lightning II 5th Generation aircraft.
Appeared on Lockheed Martin Canada Twitter page on Nov. 21, 2019 the interesting video in this post features Billie Flynn, Lockheed Martin Experimental test pilot, explaining some of the key differences between flying a 4th Generation aircraft and the F-35 Lightning II 5th Generation aircraft.
Flynn spent 23 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and eventually became a test pilot for Lockheed Martin in 2003. His office was basically the inside of an F-35 fighter jet and he flew the first F-35 airshow demonstration, at the Paris Air Show in 2017.
“I fly the F-35 every day. I get to see what the technology of a fifth generation fighter is all about. I fly with the sensors that all work and allow me to see hundreds of miles not just in front of me but all around, I see everything that moves over the water, on the ground, and in the air. That gives me the sense of how omnipotent this new technology is and how different it is than the fourth generation of fighters,” Flynn already stressed in 2016.
According to Lockheed Martin the F-35A is the best value solution for replacing the RCAF CF-18 fleet, and is available today to meet the needs of the service now and into the future.
The F-35 Lightning II offers the most technologically advanced capabilities at an increasingly lower cost for taxpayers, yielding tremendous economic benefits for Canada’s aerospace and defence industries. The F-35 strengthens Canada’s operational capacity with our allies and is a cornerstone for interoperability with NORAD and NATO.
Stealth is a critical capability to pilot survivability and the F-35’s unique mix of stealth and sensor technology can enable the RCAF to covertly patrol, monitor and conduct surveillance without being detected.
The F-35 has an operational mission radius greater than 700 nautical miles in low observable configurations and internal fuel capacity of nearly 19,000 pounds. When the mission doesn’t require low observability, the F-35 can carry more than 18,000 pounds of ordnance.
The F-35 is the fighter jet of choice for Canada’s closest allies. The United States, Denmark and Norway will operate the F-35 in the Arctic to counter increasingly sophisticated adversary threats.
Many of Canada’s other allies such as the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Australia are F-35 program participants. As a result, there will be increased coordination among NATO and other allies during peacekeeping missions around the globe.
According to the Statistics Canada model, approximately 50,000 jobs will be created in Canada through the selection of the F-35. To date, nearly 10,000 Canadian jobs have been created as a result of Canada’s partnership status in the F-35 global partnership program.
Canada has been an industry partner on the F-35 program for more than 15 years and has been offered nearly 200 projects in the Industrial Participation Plan.
Photo credit: Michael D. Jackson / Lockheed Martin
