Today we're gonna talk about the f-35 probably one of the greatest fighters to have ever existed in the history of mankind
One that some people are going it costs way too much money, but is it worth the price tag? Let's find out
How's it going? Everybody? Welcome to FTD facts. My name is Dave Walpole and today
Yes, we're talking about the f-35 the fighter that has it all now before I get in this video
I just want let you guys know that here on FTD facts every single Thursday and in this playlist down here
I always talk about new aircrafts from around the world. Well not just new aircrafts
I could talk about old aircrafts but more or less contemporary ones. So hit that subscribe button
Now let's find out more about the f-35. So the f-35 obviously is a very controversial plane
Like I said, a lot of people are like yo, it's a really expensive aircraft, but it's got stealth
That is just amazing truth be told it's stealth is not as good as the b-2 bomber or the f-22
I'm sorry to say this but it's it's just like a dumbed down version of those planes as stealth capabilities
But it's still amazing
as a matter of fact some people already say that the stealth abilities of the f-35 has already been countered by countries like Russia and
China
Most likely that has happened. It's not been confirmed
But even Israel was like yeah in a couple of years this stealth technology is gonna be pretty much useless
But however, nothing of that has been confirmed
So let's get into some of the actual facts about this aircraft
the f-35 was developed by Lockheed Martin and I like to think of it as the little brother to the
f-22 the first flight for this aircraft was on December 15th 2005, but for development of this aircraft
It's begun as far back as 1992 and so far the program cost of this entire fighter is around
1.5 trillion dollars
Sort of don't read
I mean you got to read the fine print on why it costs 1.5 trillion dollars because it hasn't really cost that much
basically your research development and testing and evaluation came in at 55 point 1 billion dollars and the
Procurement of at least 400 of these aircrafts currently, I think they only have about 380 of them out there in the real world
however
The cost for this came in at 309 Tina point five billion dollars and military construction came to about 4.5 billion
So probably a lot of you guys are wondering. Where is that one thousand one hundred and twenty three billion dollars of that
1.5 trillion. Well, that is kind of maintenance for the next a bunch of years
I think they say that's like how much it's gonna cost until the Year
2070 that's of course if they plan to have these planes till
2070 like I said
if the stealth is already kind of going out they might not now the f-35 is a
single-seat kickin
But fifth-generation fighter and contrary to what most people believe the f-35 has seen quite a bit of combat
Although a lot of this is really recent on May 22nd 2018
It was said that the first time it was used in combat was by the Israeli air forces in the Middle East
Now this was confirmed by the Israeli air chief
However, he didn't state realistically when this happened. So there's no actual evidence to back it up
However, we know that the US has used it as far back as September 27th 2018
And of course, there are other times the u.s. Used it in the Middle East in 2019, and so far its entire fleet has over
90,000 flight hours. So it has been used
So one of the biggest controversies is yeah a lot of people say, oh my god, it cost so much on the taxpayers
Yes, it did
But for all you US citizens out there just to let you guys know it wasn't just on you other
Countries from around the world also had to pay the research and development cost for this aircraft
So rule number one. Love your neighbors
Especially Canada because we definitely helped you guys out with lowering the amount that was going to your taxpayers
Basically countries like Canada in the UK and a bunch of others are a part of the f-35 program
pretty much
This means that these countries had to pay research and development costs because they intended to buy this aircraft
Canada right now is actually having a hard time figuring out whether or not it wants to buy the f-35
However, we still have to pay those costs that was part of the initial agreement
I mean like we could totally say no, but you know like it's not wise to
You know because we're all part of NATO now the one thing about the f-35 is it has a really cool
To do VTOL or they call it s VTOL basically what it is
It's an engine kind of similar to the Harrier jet but this one can actually bend its engine downward and hover
It's really cool technology. That is just for the f-35
The one thing is that a lot of people think that there is just one variant out there that is for the f-35
You know, it can hover and it can go straight
That's not necessarily the case the f-35 B is capable of actually doing VTOL and going straight
But not all versions can do this
For example the f-35 a I mean it has the ability to just do conventional takeoff
The thing with the f-35b is although we can do this. I mean it sacrifices. Uh, it's basically its fuel capacity for
armaments and all that sort of jazz
For example the f-35 a has an internal 25 millimeter
Autocannon where the others need an external one added on top of it at least that's from my understanding
Now the f-35 C is also one that has conventional aircraft takeoff
But the thing is it's got foldable wings because it's meant for aircraft carriers
now the planes so far has three global factories in which it has
1500 suppliers these factories are in Fort Worth
Texas can marry Italy and Nagoya Japan
And the one thing that's really nice about the f-35 over the f-22 is because the f-35 has a more dumbed-down stealth ability
It's a little more friendly for exports and sales now
I'm also no expert on these fighters
But one thing that is really crazy with the f-35 is it has an insane computer system that is so advanced
f-16s are being loaded with a
Similar program that is being put into the f-35
However, one of the coolest things of the f-35 is the helmet it has a major upgraded heads-up display
Ability inside of it also on top of that the f-35 has six external cameras that are attached to this headset
So you basically could just like look around and see everything. It's pretty much like you'd be flying in an invisible plane
It's pretty much see-through now in today's world. Like I said, there's over 380 of these aircrafts made
These are operated out of 17 air bases worldwide
currently there is about 700 90 pilots that have been trained in this aircraft with about
7,200 people maintaining them on top of that. There are 13 countries that are currently interested or have these aircrafts already
Unfortunately Turkey is part of that 13, but recently it's well
Let's just be perfectly honest the United States because turkeys been buying Russian air defense systems
They're like no, we're not sure we're gonna actually sell these aircrafts to you. Either way guys
That is pretty much your basic rundown of the f-35. It's an amazing aircraft. I'm just curious
What are your thoughts on the f-35 do you think it's an amazing aircraft?
Let me know down there in the comments section below and before you guys get out of here
Don't forget to check out our playlist of other great amazing aircrafts from around the world
I think you guys will really really enjoy it. I got some good episodes coming up soon, too
So that means you gotta hit the subscribe button
But you guys have yourself a fantastic one, and I'll see you in the news video. Okay. Bye
Alright, so here's that playlist that I was telling you about feel free to check it out
But thank you guys for watching and we will see you later
If 35 just rocks, doesn't it?
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