The F-35C Lightning II is the U.S. Navy’s first low-observable carrier-based aviation platform. The F-35 is being purchased to replace the F/A-18C/D Hornet as the carrier strike group’s ...

What You Need to Know: The F-35C Lightning II, designed for carrier ... She also had the largest wingspan—43 feet (13.1 meters) vs. 35 feet (10.6 meters) for the A and B variants—which allows ...

Marines recently carried out the service's first combat strikes using the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter during air missions against Houthi targets near the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.