Reporter's Notebook

The view from the cockpit

Navy Capt. Wade Knudson gave an illuminating brief this morning on the show floor in which he talked about the many novel qualities of the F-35 Lightning II, the jet fighter that will become almost ubiquitous a decade from now in the U.S. and international armed services.

Knudson, deputy program executive officer for the F-35, began by talking about the how the fighters are built – in sections, by Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics – and then assembled by Lockheed in Texas. To preserve the jet’s “stealth” qualities, the pieces have to go together with absolute precision, Knudson said – “It’s not like with your older aircraft, where you could get your mechanic to crank ‘em down. With a stealth aircraft, hundredths of an inch matter.”

The first copy of the Navy’s F-35, designed to take off from aircraft carriers, will be delivered in August, Knudson said. It will fly for the first time in December.

Each version of the fighter – including those going to the Air Force and Marine Corps – will present pilots with a completely different experience from the jets they’ve been flying. The plane has sensors embedded in its structure that will feed video to the pilot’s helmet, where he or she also will see other important data. When a pilot looks left, right, back or even down through the floor, he’ll see video from that direction fed into his helmet.

“Darth Vader – it’s a helmet even he could be proud of,” Knudson said.