"Frankenjet" stealth fighter joins US Air Force fleet: what makes it unique
Kyiv • UNN
The US military has assembled a combat-ready aircraft from damaged F-35s. The "Frankenjet" has successfully passed testing and is now ready for combat missions.
The U.S. Air Force has put into service a stealth fighter assembled from parts of two crashed F-35s. The "Frankenjet," as the aviators dubbed it, is already on duty and ready for combat, CNN reports, UNN writes.
Details
In 2014, an F-35A, which was about to take off on a training mission from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, suffered a "catastrophic engine failure," according to an Air Force report on the incident. The aircraft, known as AF-27, also sustained significant damage to its rear.
And in June 2020, another F-35A, known as AF-211, broke its nose landing gear while landing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, causing serious damage to the fighter jet.
As a result, the Air Force was left with two unusable fighter jets worth $75 million – the nose of AF-27 and the tail of AF-211.
In order not to write off the two jets as a loss, the Air Force decided to "sew together" the remains of the two expensive aircraft. The engineering work lasted 2.5 years. And in January of this year, the "newborn" "Frankenjet" successfully passed the tests.
Recall
The U.S. will increase its military presence in the western Pacific with Replicator combat drones. The program remains a key focus of the Pentagon.
