This is the world's most advanced fighter jet.
The F-35 is a family of single seat, single engine fighters,
funded by the U.S. government and manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
I'm hopping in an F-35 simulator and experiencing what it's like to sit in one.
The first thing I noticed when I hopped in the simulator is how simple the design is.
You don't see a ton of buttons on the left, a ton of buttons on the right,
and even in front of you,
and that was deliberately done so that everything on here has a specific purpose.
One of the biggest differences of the F-35 compared to previous models is that
the information is typically displayed on the glass,
but on the F-35 it's displayed on the pilot's visors.
It increases performance and situational awareness.
You put your hand on the joystick. That controls your speed.
The right hand is for steering, also a joystick.
It's pretty intuitive, left means left, right means right.
Alright, I'm taking off.
More than 265 aircrafts have already been delivered.
And the U.S. is planning to eventually have more than 2,400 jets.
There's 560 trained pilots around the world, as of now,
but the number is constantly on the rise.
And while the U.S. is the primary backer, these countries have agreed to collectively
contribute billions of dollars toward the development costs
and place orders for their very own jets, too.
Woah, we're spinning.
When I do a little too many rolls I get a sensation similar to vertigo.
Foreign military sales of the jet have now begun with Israel, Japan and South Korea.
Landing is one of the hardest things to do for any pilot. I'm going to give it a try.
The F-35 program costs start at $94.3 million per aircraft
but Lockheed Martin is hoping to get the cost down to $80 million per F-35 by 2020.
But operating a jet of this caliber can add up to hundreds of millions of dollars
throughout its operational lifetime.
And it's drawn controversy and criticism over cost overruns and delivery delays.
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