F-35

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine stealth multirole fighter. It is still in testing and has yet to enter full production. The F-35B (The Marine variant) variant is featured in Battlefield 2, Battlefield Play4Free, and Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand.

Battlefield 2
The F-35B in Battlefield 2 is the only VSTOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) fighter jet in the game and one of the four Fixed-Wing aircraft (F-35B, F-18, F-15E, A-10) used by the United States Marine Corps. It has no PLA or MEC counterpart and is only found on the USS Essex (LHD-2)

Compared to the F/A-18A
The F-35B has the same armament as the F/A-18A and both aircraft are single-seated, but the F-35B trades maneuverability and speed for VTOL/STOL capabilities, thus making the F-35B easier to land, but also making it slower and more vulnerable.

Appearances
The F-35 appears on every map with a American amphibious assault ship, and does not appear on any six-teen player sized maps due to the lack of any amphibious assault ships on any six-teen player sized maps.
 * Dalian Plant
 * Dragon Valley
 * Gulf of Oman
 * Wake Island 2007
 * Zatar Wetlands

Battlefield Play4Free
In Battlefield Play4Free, the F-35 is the USMC's fighter jet. It appears at Oman and Dalian Plant and is usable with the Jet pilot training. The Jet can fire heatseaking missiles at enemy vehicles, including other jets, and drop bombs to destroy infantry and other ground targets with the JDAM bomb training. The F35 also has access to countermeasures to thwart missile lock on, but the cooldown timer for this ability is longer than other vehicles in the game.

The F-35 features VTOL capabilities over its Russian counterpart, the MiG-29.

Multiplayer
The F-35 was seen in the November 4th Back to Karkand expansion pack trailer, and was confirmed to be one of the 3 new vehicles. Unlike the other jets, the F-35 has hovering capabilites which can be activated by using the throttle-down control, which allows it to function somewhat like a helicopter, but the aircraft is difficult to control during vertical flight.

This problem can be easily countered by ensuring that the jet is flying relatively level when activating VTOL mode, and holding down the throttle-down button. This keeps hover mode activated, and from then onwards attitude/lateral control is performed as if the pilot was flying an attack chopper, albeit without the ascend/descend functionality. However, it cannot hover indefinitely like a chopper. Rather, it always heads in the direction the player is facing. This makes for some problems when flying too low or not level with the ground. The jet is also extremely vulnerable to enemy anti-air in this position. It it vital to be careful not to activate this mode when facing upwards, as you will begin dropping, and because of the viewpoint, you will not be able to see how close to the ground you are. The hover function can be used effectively to attack enemy vehicles, or aircraft that have not taken off, though the plane will become an easy target for Mobile anti aircraft guns and missiles.

The F-35 is a bit trickier to use in a dogfight than the Su-35 Flanker-E, but in the right hands it can be the king of the skies. In the wrong, it is easy meat. The troubles about dogfighting revolve around the aircraft being slightly less maneuverable and that it can activate hover mode at inconvenient times. But its big strength is that its HUD is much closer to the player, consequently giving a much larger aiming reticule for the AAMs, balancing out the inreased obstruction. It is possible to use freelooking in the F-35 to lock-on enemy aircraft with the heatseekers. It also can use VTOL to, at the right time, throw the enemy off or stay behind someone that is holding the brake down, thus providing you with an easy kill.

The F-35 also has a somewhat better main cannon compared to its opponent, the Su-35, either having more damage/accuracy or both, this makes it really good for taking out infantry and helicopters utilizing its VTOL feature.

They are featured on Conquest on Gulf of Oman, and Conquest, CQ Assault on Wake Island. Also, as with other jets, the F-35 functions as a spawn point until entered by a player.

In the beginning, when B2K was first released, the F35 was easily outmatched by its opponent, the Russian Su-35 Flanker E. However, several changes were made to it in the recent patches. First, its HUD was shrunk. Second, the F-35 now only attempts to hover at low altitulde. Third, its been buffed to meet the Flanker's speed and use although it is still not as manuvaerable as the Su-35 Flanker E.

Trivia

 * In Battlefield 3, the HUD is displayed on the pilot's helmet, instead of the standard glass screen of other rush and conquest jets.