Бортовая РЛС Selex ES-05 Raven с активной ФАР по своей эффективности существенно превосходит старые станции с механической антенной. Приемо-передающие модули АФАР мгновенно просматривают воздушное и наземное/морское пространство, позволяя самолету практически одновременно выполнять сразу несколько миссий. Традиционная РЛС имеет очень ограниченный обзор пространства, что не позволяет пилотам иметь необходимый в современном бою уровень осведомленности о противнике, действующем на разных ракурсах.

BTW. I had to do a run to MCAS Miramar and asked a friend of mine who's a Major on how the F-35B's are doing in Red Flag. He didn't give a specific answer but just smiled and said so far.... and gave me the thumbs up. That made my day today.

Hill has 15 F-35A aircraft, Anderson said, and 12 of those “have completed five critical aircraft modifications” to get them to the proper configuration. Those mods included nitrogen inerting improvements to the fuel system that lifted limits on how many Gs the aircraft can pull, as well as lightning protections that lift a rule that kept the jets 25 nautical miles away from thunderstorms, making them safer “in the air and on the ground,” Anderson said. The aircraft now being delivered from Lockheed Martin—in the 3iP6.21 software configuration—have also demonstrated that the radar software instability issue has been corrected. “We are getting good aircraft off the line from Lockheed Martin,” Anderson said. Newly delivered jets don’t need as many mods because the changes have been incorporated on the production line, he said. The 16th aircraft will be delivered in August and plans call for 72 jets at Hill by the end of 2019

“We’ve been on that track now for two years to get all of our pilots in every type model series the hours they need,” Davis said. “Last year the only guys that got their hours, and the only T-1 unit I have right now, is the F-35s.” He added: “They’re ready for everything.”