Joint Strike Fighter program

Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program that resulted in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighter aircraft. It is intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and formerly Turkey. Started in 1993, the program received proposals from McDonnell Douglas, Northrop, Lockheed and Boeing. In 1996, the latter two were selected, developing the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35 prototypes. The X-35 awarded the contract in 2001, and developed into the F-35, which will replace various tactical aircraft, including the US F-16, A-10, F/A-18A-D, AV-8B, EA-6B and British Harrier GR7, GR9s and Tornado GR4. The projected average annual cost of the program is $12.5 billion in 2012 with an estimated cost in 2024 of $2 trillion over its lifespan. The F-35 first flew in 2006, and was introduced into service from 2015.