The [M]F-35 made its maiden flight[/M] on December 15, 2006.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II or F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a fifth generation supersonic stealth multi-role fighter, which was developed to meet the needs of the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Italy , Denmark, Norway, Turkey and other buyers such as Israel.
The F-35 was conceived as a relatively low-cost design of three fifth-generation fighters, CTOL F-35A JSF, STOVL F-35B JSF, CV F-35C JSF, for the US Navy, Air Force, and Marines , as encompassing three aircraft in the same project mitigated the high development costs compared to the three separate ones. However, due to successive development problems, the low cost objective was not achieved. The main weapons are transported in internal compartments, for a high degree of discretion. But additional weapons can be transported externally, on missions where stealth is not required.
Since it was conceived, the F-35 has been embroiled in controversy. Delays, rising development costs (initially projected at $59 billion) and design problems in general have tarnished the fighter's reputation, which was supposed to be a cheaper alternative to the expensive F-22. The cost of development, construction and maintenance was around US$ 400 billion dollars, making it the most expensive weapons project in history. In 2015, after fifteen years of development, the first F-35 squadron was released into active service in the United States Air Force. This aircraft is projected to remain in active service until 2070.