F-35

The Inside Story of the Lightning II

Tom Burbage, Betsy Clark, Adrian Pitman, David Poyer

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Year: 2023
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781510777675
• Subtopic: 21st Century History
• Index: History

The inside story of the most expensive and controversial military program in history, as told by those who lived it. The F-35 has changed allied combat warfare. But by the time it's completed, it will cost more than the Manhattan Project and the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It has been subject to the most aggressive cyberattacks in history from China, Russia, North Korea, and others. Its stealth technology required nearly 9 million lines of code; NASA's Curiosity Mars rover required 2.5 million. And it was this close to failure. F-35 is the only inside look at the most advanced aircraft in the world and the historic project that built it, as told by those who were intimately involved in its design, testing, and production. Based on the authors' personal experience and over 100+ interviews, F-35 pulls back the curtain on one of the most heavily criticized government programs in history from start to finish: the dramatic flights that won Lockheed Martin the contract over Boeing; the debates and decisions over capabilities; feats of software, hardware, and aeronautical engineering that made it possible; how the project survived the Nunn-McCurdy breach; the conflicts among all three branches of the U.S. military, between the eight other allied nation partners, and against spy elements from enemies. For readers of Skunk Works by Ben Rich and The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, F-35 will pique the interest of airplane enthusiasts, defense industry insiders, military history aficionados, political junkies, and general nonfiction readers.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Photos And Figures
• Preface
• Chapter 1: A Dark and Stormy Night
• Chapter 2: History of Fighter Aircraft
• Chapter 3: The Tension Builds
• Chapter 4: A Battle in the Sky
• Chapter 5: The Rubik’s Cube of Partnering
• Chapter 6: Building the Global Security Partnership—European and Pacific Alliances
• Chapter 7: Building the Global Industrial Ecosystem
• Chapter 8: Engineering a New Global Culture
• Chapter 9: Defining a New Beast: Converting General Requirements into a Combat Machine
• Chapter 10: The Devil’s in the Details
• Chapter 11: Controlling the Beast
• Chapter 12: Innovation Doesn’t Just Happen
• Chapter 13: Testing the Beast
• Chapter 14: The Best Seat in the House
• Chapter 15: Roles and Missions Matter
• Chapter 16: Remaking Her Majesty’s Armed Forces
• Chapter 17: The Perfect Storm
• Chapter 18: Transparency, Trust, and Realism
• Chapter 19: It’s Only Software
• Chapter 20: Executing to the New Plan
• Chapter 21: Building the Beast
• Chapter 22: Sustaining the Beast
• Chapter 23: The Media War and the Sleeping Stakeholders
• Chapter 24: Spy vs. Spy
• Chapter 25: The Land Down Under
• Chapter 26: G’Day USA, G’Day World
• Chapter 27: The Arctic Alliance: The Reluctant Partner—Eh, Canada?
• Chapter 28: Final Exams
• Chapter 29: The Tyranny of Time
• Postscript
• Epilogue by Tom Burbage: The Beauty of Bucket Lists and Special Thanks
• Acronym List
• Index
• Plates