[Wikipedia Daily Article] July 17: F-35 Lightning II

The F-35 Lightning II, called in development the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is a military fighter aircraft designed by the United States and the United Kingdom. It is intended to replace the current generation of strike fighters, particularly the vertical take off and landing (VTOL) Harrier jump jets: the AV-8 Harrier II (US), Harrier GR7/9 (UK), and the Sea Harrier, along with the conventional A-10 Thunderbolt II, F/A-18 Hornet and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. It will be a multi-role strike fighter (a plane with a strong emphasis on close air support and tactical bombing as well as being capable of air-to-air combat), and will make considerable use of stealth technology in that it will be almost undetectable (stealthy) to X-band radars (tracking radars, often short range) in the forward hemisphere but not particularly stealthy in the rear hemisphere and not stealthy to L band (search radars, often long range) in either hemisphere. It is currently in production with Lockheed Martin, along with partners Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and Smiths Aerospace. Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-35_Lightning_II _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1815: Napoleonic Wars: Napoléon surrendered to British forces at Rochefort, France, ending the Hundred Days. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France) 1936: Nationalist rebels in Spain attempt a coup d'etat against the Second Spanish Republic, commencing the Spanish Civil War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War) 1945: Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Harry S. Truman met at the Potsdam Conference to decide how to administer post-World War II Germany. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference) 1955: Walt Disney's first theme park Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland) 1975: History of East Timor: East Timor was annexed and became the 27th province of Indonesia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_East_Timor) 1996: Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800) 1998: Biologists reported in the journal Science how they sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treponema_pallidum) _____________________ Wikiquote of the day: Were I so tall to reach the pole,Or grasp the ocean with my span,I must be measured by my soul;The mind's the standard of the man. -- Isaac Watts (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts)