The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters undergoing final development and testing by the United States. The fifth generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack, and air defense missions. The F-35 has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery variant. On 31 July 2015, the first squadron was declared ready for deployment after intensive testing by the United States.
