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'Elephant Walk-ing' $3 billion worth of F-35 fighter jets
After years of cost overruns and criticism, the US military has started to deploy its stealth-enabled F-35 fighter jet. To communicate that message in no uncertain terms, the Air Force's 388th and 419th Fighter Wings carried out combat exercises meant to test the capabilities of their F-35As. The drill started off with an "Elephant Walk" that placed 36 of the jets (one is missing in this photo) on the runway all at once, worth $3 billion, at least at the current $90 million per airplane price.
F-35 completes first transatlantic flight on delivery to UK
Marines forces on either side of the Atlantic have depended on air support from the versatile AV-8B Harrier jump jet and its marvelous Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capability to lift into flight without a runway. But the venerable aircraft has slowly been phased out in favor of the upcoming F-35 Lightning II fighter plane, which will come in a Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL)-equipped 'B' version. Despite scandals over its bloated budget and delayed schedule, the first F-35B intended for the UK has just finished the jet's first recorded transatlantic flight as it lands in Britain in a video posted by the US Marine Corps.
Recommended Reading: Will high-tech fighter jets replace pilots?
The Last Fighter Pilot Kevin Gray, Popular Science Forgive us for missing this one during the holiday rush, but Popular Science's look at what the high-tech F-35 fighter jet could mean for combat pilots is definitely worth a look. With so many automated features and sensors, how long will it be until fighter pilots are no longer required in the cockpit?
Visualized: F-35B fighter's vertical landing, in the dark (video)
The jury's still out on Lockheed Martin's F-35B fighter. The aircraft is expected to cost the US more than $1.5 trillion over its lifetime, and it's been described as being too heavy and too sluggish -- one critic has gone so far as to call the jet a "dog." One thing's for sure, though: the F-35 looks mighty impressive, especially when it's landing vertically on an aircraft carrier. In the dark. Click past the break for a look at Lockheed's trillion-dollar light show, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
Lockheed Martin's CHIL blends motion capture with VR, creates zombie engineers (video)
Computer-aided design is a great way to build products, but does it let you bust a funky move while wearing some crazy glasses and gloves? Heck no. You need Lockheed Martin's CHIL for that. It's the Collaborative Human Immersive Laboratory, virtual reality goggles and gloves combined with motion capture enabling teams of engineers to work together in a virtual space. You can see it in action below, used first for installing polygonal munitions into a rendered version of one of the company's F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, then for doing a little VR tai chi. A Lockheed rep promises that this enables the team to ensure the plane can be more easily and affordably maintained, but we just see this as high-tech training tool for the company's world-renowned synchronized dance teams.
