Lightning II makes its debut

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley announced Lightning II as the F-35 name during a Joint Strike Fighter inauguration ceremony July 7 at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. at Fort Worth, Texas. The F-35 Lightning II is the next generation strike fighter bringing cutting-edge technologies to the battlespace of the future. The Lightning II features an advanced airframe, autonomic logistics, avionics, propulsion systems, stealth and firepower. (U.S. Navy photo/Chief Petty Officer Eric A. Clement)

Doing a Double Take

Published Jan. 3, 2007
By Senior Airman Joshua Brown

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The aircraft picture at the top of page 24 in your September/October 2006 issue "Clear the Runway" section is incorrect. The caption says "F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter pilots and maintainers will train at Eglin AFB, Fla." However, the picture shown is of a Boeing X-32 (an experimental joint strike fighter jet that lost the contract bid to the Lockheed Martin F-35). The two jets do look similar and I had to do a double take to verify what I was seeing. I just thought that you would like to know. Thank you for the great magazine, and please keep the great articles coming.

You're right. We obtained the misidentified file photo from a military aircraft photo archive we frequently use and did not catch the mistake. We have since contacted the site manager, and the photo has been removed from the F-35 (at left) photo archive. We also have included a photo of the actual F-35 with this letter. Thank you for the correction and for your interest in Torch.