As seen in this photo, the first British F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is a real cool looking badass combat plane

July 19, 2012 F-35

David Cenciotti

On Jul. 19, the United Kingdom accepted the first international Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft in a ceremony attended by senior representatives of the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The U.K. was the first of eight international partners to join the F-35 program and plans to acquire the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft.

Image credit: Lockheed Martin

Photo: UK’s second F-35B makes inaugural flight (theaviationist.com)
Photo: F-35B Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft doing aileron roll with asymmetric weapons load (theaviationist.com)
USMC F-35B first flight at Eglin Air Force Base. On the 100th anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation. (theaviationist.com)
Farnborough 2012: This is the most advanced flight helmet, ever. The F-35′s Helmet Mounted Display System (theaviationist.com)

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.