Well the largest obvious attraction is it’s a (5th generation) stealth fighter. This makes it harder to track by radar and IR which increases it’s survivabilty against other fighters and ground based air defense systems.
What makes the F-35 special in the eyes of its customers is that it’s arguably the first jet built purely around the concept of information / situational awareness dominance / (elec)“tron” warfare – the idea that speed is not life, information is life – that the biggest deciding factor is what you know, how you can share and manage that information, and how you can either manipulate or deprive the situational awareness / knowledge of the enemy.
It has a very advanced multi-function radar in the nose that can track air and surface targets simultaneously while also being used by the electronic warfare system.The radar does all of this while being very difficult to track and target by carefully controlling the radio waves it sends out (this is called low probability of intercept, LPI)
It can also create insanely high resolution ground mapping in near real time. Unlike most 4th generation fighters the F-35 carries a IR targeting pod internally, it also acts as a long range IRST for passive air tracking as well as ground tracking and targeting.
It then has a 360 IR based camera system that allows for target tracking and identification all around the aircraft, it also allows the pilot to see through the aircraft using the helmet mounted display on the visor of the helmet, it’s also part of the missile warning system.
All this information that is gathered is fused together (this is the term sensor fusion that gets thrown around a lot) and only relevant information is shown to the pilot in as simple of way as possible reducing work loads.
All the information, even the stuff the pilot doesn’t necessarily get shown, is shared seamlessly between multiple F-35’s as well as command and other friendly forces.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.