Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Service: USN Armament: 25 mm GAU-22/A; 2x AIM-120C air-to-air missiles; 2x GBU-31 JDAM Propulsion: F135-PW-100 -- 40,000 lb Max; 25,000 lb Mil Speed: Mach 1.6 (1,200 mph) Range: 1,200 nm The F-35C Lightning II is the U.S. Navy’s first low-observable carrier-based aviation platform. The F-35 is being purchased to replace the F/A-18C/D Hornet as the carrier strike group’s primary offensive fighter for aerial defense and close air support. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps' carrier variant has larger wings and more robust landing gear than the other variants, making it suitable for catapult launches and fly-in arrestments aboard naval aircraft carriers. Its wingtips fold to allow for more room on the deck on the carriers while deployed. The CV has the greatest internal fuel capacity of the F-35 variants, and, like the F-35B, the C-variant uses probe and drogue refueling. Following an intense four-year competition, the U.S. Department of Defense on 26 October 2001, named the Lockheed Martin lead Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) team as the winner of the contract to develop the F-35 JSF. The F-35C is the first and world’s only long-range stealth strike fighter designed and built explicitly for Navy carrier operations. It’s configuration, embedded sensors, internal fuel and weapons capacity, aligned edges, and state of the art manufacturing processes all contribute to the F-35’s unique Very Low Observable stealth performance. This enables pilots to evade enemy detection and operate in anti-access and contested environments, improving lethality and survivability. The Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) radar, Distributed Aperture System (DAS), Electro Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and Helmet Mounted Display System allow the pilot to see everything in the battlespace with unprecedented situational awareness. The F-35 can operate as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset and battle manager, sharing information to all networked ground, sea and air assets in the battlespace. This ensures men and women in uniform can execute their mission and come home safe. The F-35C carries nearly 20,000 lbs of internal fuel and has a range of greater than 1,200 nm. The enables F-35C pilots to fly further and remain in a desired battlespace longer before refueling is necessary. The design of the F-35C’s wings and landing gear make it suitable for catapult launches and fly-in arrestments aboard naval aircraft carriers. Its wingtips also fold to allow for more room on the carrier’s deck while deployed. The F-35C can reach speeds of 1.6 Mach (~1,200 mph) even with a full internal weapons load. With its fuel and internal weapons load, the F-35C can fly faster with no drag associated with external tanks and weapons required for legacy fighters. The F-35C can carry more than 5,000 lbs of internal weapons, or more than 18,000 lbs of combined internal and external weapons. This allows the Navy to operate in stealth when necessary, or increase lethality with additional weapons externally when the air space is permissive. Naval Air Station Lemoore is home to the Navy’s Joint Strike Fighter Wing. The U.S. Marine Corps is also acquiring F-35C aircraft along with their F-35BSs. Lockheed Martin leads the F-35 industry team with Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Pratt & Whitney. The program is managed by the Department of Defense’s F-35 Joint Program Office. More than 1,900 suppliers build and sustain the F-35 program in 48 U.S. states and in more than 10 countries.

You will receive the item as shown in the first photo. Other items in other pictures are for your reference only, available in my eBay Store. They will make a great addition to your SSI Shoulder Sleeve Insignia collection. You find only US Made items here, with the same LIFETIME warranty. 20121401

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