The United States Air Force Thunderbirds is flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon for decades. But now many aviation lovers are wondering what the replacement aircraft will be.
Could it be the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter? Or maybe something a little more bite-size, such as the T-50 trainer, should the Air Force actually decide to buy the aircraft?
Whatever the final choice, it’s got to live up to the agility of the F-16 known as the Viper to the F-16 community.
F-35 in Thunderbird paint – Will the F-35 Be the Next Thunderbirds Jet? See stunning photo of F-35A Lightning II in Thunderbird paint configuration
“Certainly, the F-35 is a very agile airplane — super capable,” said Lt. Col. Jason Heard, commander and leading pilot of the air demonstration team. “Whenever they do make that decision, they may look at the F-35 as the logical next choice if we’re going to continue that narrative of a combat aircraft.”
“[But] a lot of its capabilities would not be visual in an air demonstration: its data links, its ability to network, understand and build a situational picture in a war environment,” Heard said.
He said the decision is still a few years out, with various cost analyses needed.
Perhaps the Air Force would consider using an F-35 without all the bells and whistles, should Lockheed Martin Corp., its manufacturer, be open to making a less specialized version.
And it’s not as if the team’s pilots are training in the F-35 or any other kind of fighter at the moment, said Maj. Nick Krajicek, the slot pilot, flying the No. 4 jet.
“It’s only speculation that it may be the F-35,” he said, though “it is going to be the Air Force’s biggest buy” of combat aircraft. “We need to outfit the combat warfighter with that airplane before the Thunderbirds think about changing to … that aircraft.”
“Regardless of what aircraft the Air Force picks, I think about [it] for the aircrews, for the ground crews, for the maintenance, and for the overall show quality of what that’s going to be and how that transitions,” Krajicek said.
For now, “the maintainers you see here working the line right now do such an exceptional job … that we can fly these [F-16s] well into the future,” he said
Here are photos of F-35A Lightning II in Thunderbird paint configuration
Images Credits: These images of the F-35 Lightning II in Thunderbirds dress were released by Lockheed Martin’s multimedia team to promote the jet.
Article Source: www.military.com
I think the Boeing T-X would be a better candidate for the U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds than the F-35 Lightning II but time will tell.
I would love to see the F 22 as Thunderbirds they are so awesome and maneuverable