The British Military Open Encyclopedia - ARRSE-Pedia. Back to British Army Rumour Service Home
Lightning II
From ARRSEpedia
| |
| Does my afterburner look big in this? |
|---|
Lightning 2.The new name for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.
It supposedly suits everyone, because the yanks used to have a Lightning (WW2 P-38, twin engine, twin boom jobbie) and the British had the Lightning (1960s era massive engines, wings and a stick to control the Beast). Note I say the British had THE Lightning as this is by far the best there is/was.
Other names suggested were:
- Spitfire II
- Black Mamba
- Harrier III
- Kestrel
- Phoenix
- Piasa (WTF?)
So it was the best of a bad bunch; Spitfire 2 is insulting, Harrier 3 is unoriginal, Kestrel is the Harrier Prototype and hence unoriginal, Phoenix is OK I guess, Piasa? ...well, it wasn't Italian was it!
Had it been Black Mamba I think fast jet recruitment may have plummeted "Hi, I'm a Black Mamba Pilot" sounds suspect at best! (... unless you are a member of 3 Para Mortar Platoon of course)
