F-35 Lightning II

If there’s one thing for which the U.S. government should have a “blank check”, it’s defense spending.  Not necessarily for complicated, politicized international wars or covert nation building operations, but for weapons development programs so futuristic and secretive that we the citizens, along with potential enemies, can barely imagine the kinds of firepower the Pentagon or DARPA are dreaming up.  I don’t want to know anything about these programs other than that they’re so technologically advanced and destructive that the very potential of their existence serves as a deterrent.  And for every secretive weapon that is released to the public after decades of development, such as Boeing’s stealthy Phantom Ray, I want to be assured that there’s several more in the pipeline far more advanced than anything an enemy could reasonably conjure.

It was impressive today to see recently released images of the newest fighter jet in the U.S. arsenal, the F-35 Lightning II.  These pictures of the F-35 are awesome and will hopefully instill a fear in potential foes great enough to preclude its use in combat operations.  Check out the rest of the pictures here.

[Via:  Gizmodo]