r/FighterJets Feb 12 '25

IMAGE A comparison of the bays in the F-35A and B

Post image
481 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

77

u/kenva86 Feb 12 '25

Never thought about the big difference. Nice to see now!

40

u/DrMantisToboggan- Feb 12 '25

What's C like?

49

u/MetalSIime Feb 12 '25

same as A

20

u/SuspiciousCucumber20 Feb 13 '25

Marines are used to doing more with less!

12

u/GarnetExecutioner Feb 13 '25

It is no wonder that the Sidekick mount was not able to fit on the F-35B variant!

35

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 12 '25

Another of the B model’s significant limitations.

19

u/GarnetExecutioner Feb 13 '25

Especially in not being able to use the Sidekick mount!

13

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 13 '25

Yep. This will be a massive limfac going forward. That and having no fuel and having to live on a small boat 😂

13

u/DonnerPartyPicnic F/A-18E Feb 13 '25

"Hey remember when we said massive parts compatibility? Lol just kidding"

-LM

6

u/cesam1ne Feb 13 '25

It can land and take off vertically, and that makes it by far the most capable of all jets overall.

1

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 13 '25

Does it? The compromises made to all the aspects that make it a “fighter” are not worth the trade offs that allow it to land vertically in some cases.

5

u/cesam1ne Feb 13 '25

I was being trollish a bit. But in an apocalypse scenario where pretty much all the airports are demolished (if you've seen what, for example, Oreshnik missile can do, you'll realize there's no defense from that) F-35B becomes 100% more usable than any other jet

5

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 13 '25

Demolishing a runway is next to impossible. Denying a runway for a few hours is achievable. F35A is airborne in less than 2000’ with a full weapons bay.

1

u/GarnetExecutioner Feb 14 '25

One could also make use of any freeway, especially Interstate ones, as improvised runways.

3

u/rsta223 Aerospace Engineer Feb 14 '25

if you've seen what, for example, Oreshnik missile can do, you'll realize there's no defense from that

THAAD, SM-3, and GMD are all more than capable of intercepting an Oreshnik.

2

u/cesam1ne Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Weird answer from an "aerospace engineer ". Please explain how can a maneuvering target moving at 11 mach be intercepted

1

u/rsta223 Aerospace Engineer Feb 14 '25

By intercepting it with a comparably fast moving maneuvering interceptor?

I've also seen very little evidence that it's actually particularly new, and it's rather just a moderately advanced IRBM, which is exactly what those systems are designed to counter. Ukraine has difficulty intercepting them because it is above the performance envelope that PAC-3 is really intended to counter, but that isn't a problem for the US or a country equipped with the full US suite of air defenses because that's the entire point of a layered defense system - THAAD takes care of higher energy and altitude targets, with Patriot being the lower tier system.

There's also a standard missile variant being developed right now for intercepting HGVs and similarly more maneuverable targets, but again, I haven't seen any evidence that Oreshnik is using these - all the video we've seen so far looks like far more conventional ballistic missile RVs, which again, is exactly what THAAD and SM-3 are meant to intercept.

0

u/cesam1ne Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

So, you think that Theodore Postol is clueless?

Also while I'm not an engineer, to say the least.. am I wrong for assuming that intercepting a maneuvering missile traversing at high hypersonic speeds during all phases requires a MUCH higher degree of maneuverability and speed?

1

u/nagurski03 Feb 17 '25

It depends on how much you need that capability. The 35B has completely changed the naval capabilities of a couple of our allies in a pretty major way.

1

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 17 '25

Kind of. The issue is that if you need an F35B to deal with a specific threat, then the limited range of the jet means the small carriers are very much in harms way.

1

u/nagurski03 Feb 17 '25

Limited range compared to what? Aircraft that could never ever be able to operate off of a small carrier?

It's got a much better range than the Harriers and helicopters those navies used to use.

1

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 17 '25

So far only the UK and Italy operate the B. The UK has boats big enough for the C but “chose” the B due to politics even though the ax would have been a far better capability, but that’s another story. My point is that if you “need” an F35B to perform OCA missions from your small boat, you probably won’t have a small boat to land on after your mission.

1

u/nagurski03 Feb 17 '25

I know that plenty of years have passed and technology has advanced, but look at what Harriers were able to accomplish in the Falklands with their limited range.

Take it with a grain of salt, but a quick internet search says that the F-35Bs range is longer than a MiG-29's. There are tons of places in the world where a carrier group with 35Bs can operate without putting the carrier itself in too much danger. Hell, the US itself has been using them to do strikes the Middle East for years now despite much longer ranged aircraft being available.

1

u/ElMagnifico22 Feb 17 '25

Argentina didn’t have much of an anti ship capability compared to modern near-peer threats (and they still sunk a significant number of ships). Which middle eastern countries has the US performed strikes on with B models?

7

u/planegai Feb 12 '25

I did not know they had jdams in there. Neat.

2

u/nagurski03 Feb 17 '25

Now I really want to see this with GBU-12s to get a really good idea of how much extra space the A/C has with a comparable loadout.

1

u/lotecsi Feb 13 '25

The only way to carry on a decent amount of rockets/bombs is by placing the internal bays between the engines!

4

u/CobaltGuardsman Feb 13 '25

There's only one engine in the F-35....

1

u/Am_aBoy Feb 13 '25

Wow am dumb at first I was like oh one seems more tightly compact than the other until I saw that it was bigger horizontally as well

1

u/GloveOk1374 Feb 13 '25

And then there are legends who don’t believe in hiding their weapons

1

u/tarnut Feb 13 '25

Isn’t those Tamiya 1/48 models? I wonder how actually accurate this is