Developed under the largest weapons program in history, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is today in production on a larger scale than any other manned combat jet in the world, with its capabilities having greater implications for the global balance of power than those of any other military asset. The extent to which the U.S. Armed Forces and American strategic partners rely on the fighter remains wholly unprecedented, with the large majority of U.S. Air Force fighter procurements, all those by the Marine Corps, and from 2027 all those by the Navy, being F-35s. As the only fighter of its generation in production in the Western world, evaluations made across multiple tenders have consistently concluded that the F-35 operates in an entirely different league to other Western combat jets, with this superiority giving the program a particular significance in an era of high geopolitical tensions.

This book details the primary combat aviation and broader technological trends that have influenced the F-35's development, the aircraft's design features and ever-evolving capabilities, how it has been tested, manufactured, procured, and employed, and the expanding set of roles it has been relied on to fulfil. Interviews are widely drawn on to provide insight into multiple aspects of the program, from its production to its frontline operations. The management of the program ranging from efforts to reduce procurement and sustainment costs, to decision making regarding the integration of new technologies, is explored in detail. The global nature of the F-35 program, the facilitators of its major export successes, and the aircraft's ability to meet challenges from a range of adversary capabilities, are also detailed, as are the likely future trajectories the program will take moving into the sixth generation era. The book highlights both the tremendous achievements of the F-35 program, many of which have been wholly unprecedented and unparalleled, as well as its many often severe shortcomings which have made the aircraft less of a game changer than was otherwise set to be the case.