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The F-35C's Radar-Absorbent Skin Is Looking Pretty Rough After Months At Sea
The U.S. Navy’s F-35C stealth fighters, one of which has recently grabbed unwanted attention after a landing mishap aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson sent it into the sea, are also showing some fairly significant wear and tear on their debut operational cruise. Radar-absorbent skins are historically made of materials that are notoriously sensitive to environmental conditions. While it is known that significant leaps in the maintainability of radar-absorbent materials (RAM) were integrated into the F-35 design, recent images from the F-35C's inaugural cruise raise potential questions about the ease of maintaining the jet's coatings in the demanding maritime environment.
Photos that appeared recently on the Pentagon’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, or DVIDS, website reveal the extent of the weathering that’s affected the F-35Cs of Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147), the “Argonauts,” aboard the Nimitz class carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). These pictures were all taken while the carrier was underway in the Philippine Sea earlier this month.
Unlike their Air Force counterparts, the jets appear covered in reddish-brown streaks and splotches over most of their upper surfaces, including the center fuselages, wings, and tail surfaces. In fact, the aircraft almost look as if they have a case of rust, which is not altogether unheard of for the Navy, but as with most things related to the F-35, the reality is likely much more complex.
After all, rust only affects ferrous metals like iron or steel and the F-35's largely composite airframe wouldn’t rust, although its RAM — which has already been through a couple of iterations — may very well show similar signs after significant exposure to the harsh saltwater environment. While what makes up the F-35's RAM — some of which is supposedly baked directly into the aircraft's skin panels themselves — is a closely guarded secret, Iron is a known ingredient of radar-absorbent coatings going back to the dawn of stealth technology.
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https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44067/the-f-35cs-radar-absorbent-skin-is-looking-pretty-rough-after-months-at-sea