How powerful is Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet? Understanding its capabilities, power, features and more

The F-35 Lightning II, developed by Lockheed Martin, is a single-seat, single-engine fifth-generation fighter jet designed to handle a wide range of missions, including air dominance, precision strikes, electronic warfare, and intelligence gathering.

Regarded as one of the most advanced combat aircraft in the world, the F-35 combines low observability with powerful sensors, advanced networking, and supersonic performance. These features allow pilots to detect and respond to threats while staying largely hidden from enemy radar. In Europe, the jet is already in service with countries like the UK, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland. Other nations, including Germany, Greece, Finland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, are set to follow.

The aircraft comes in three versions to meet different operational demands: the F-35A for traditional runways, the F-35B for short take-off and vertical landing, and the F-35C for aircraft carrier operations. These variants are used across the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as by numerous allied air forces.

A key advantage of the F-35 lies in its stealth technology, which significantly lowers its radar signature and allows it to fly missions deep into enemy territory with reduced risk of detection. This makes it particularly effective in high-threat environments where other aircraft might struggle to survive.

This is supported by a powerful onboard computing system which integrates data from its advanced radar, electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), distributed aperture system (DAS), and some other sensors. The result of this is, a real-time battlespace awareness and information sharing with other assets, a key advantage in modern network-centric warfare.

Its helmet-mounted display system projects critical data straight into the pilot’s line of sight, including night vision and targeting cues, this enhances situational awareness without overloading cognitive capacity. The jet also features open architecture software, futher allowing for frequent updates to mission systems, weapons, and communications.

The F-35 first flew in 2006 and entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B in July 2015, followed by the U.S. Air Force F-35A in August 2016 and the U.S. Navy F-35C in February 2019. With its advanced stealth features it can be declared the world’s most powerful aircraft engine and the most advanced radar. Further, the F-35 stands out as the world’s only fifth-generation fighter jet capable of carrying nuclear bombs, beating other warplanes like F-22, J-20, and Su-57.

While over 1,000 F-35s have been delivered worldwide, the programme has faced challenges. These include higher-than-expected development costs, lower-than-planned parts commonality across variants, and design compromises—particularly to accommodate the F-35B’s STOVL system. Critics argue some agility and performance trade-offs were made to meet the diverse needs of different military branches.