All language subtitles for B T W S05E03 1080p WEB h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

(gentle upbeat music)
(plane engine humming)

- We are getting an inside look

at the most advanced fighter
of them all, the F-35.

Can we go see the real jet?

- This is the most capable,

the most advanced
fifth-generation fighter

and it's capabilities
are unmatched.

- You see everything in an F-35

'cause the sensors
are so advanced.

You have stealth and
other defensive systems

on the aircraft.

For the most part,
nobody sees you.

- I can't wait to see
how these are built.

- The production
system set in place

in this most powerful
building in the world.

- When you think about
all that's out there,

the F-35 is the
central node in that,

it's the quarterback
out on the field.

- From the factory to the field,

let's go see this
thing in action.

- The capabilities
for what we can do,

they're light years
beyond where we were at

just a decade ago.

- This is going to be cool.

Yeah.

It's time to go
"Behind the Wings."

(upbeat music)

I'm Tracy Latourrette,
Colorado's first
lady fighter pilot.

I'm at Wings Over the
Rockies Air & Space Museum

in a historic World
War II-era hanger.

Today, we're going to the
cutting edge of aviation

alongside the F-35.

I cut my teeth on the F-16

and while it will always
be my favorite aircraft,

the F-35 is transforming the
world of aviation and land

and sea defense in ways I
never could've imagined.

Get ready for takeoff.

The F-35 is not your
average fighter jet.

It has the most
advanced sensor suite

of any fighter jet in history.

Its integrated helmet technology
crunches data in real time.

This flying marvel is powered

by the most powerful
fighter engine in the world,

the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine

with about 43,000
pounds of thrust.

So it can fly faster than the
speed of sound at Mach 1.6,

that's about 1,227
miles per hour.

There are three
versions of the F-35.

The most common
variant, the A model,

is flown by the Air Force and
used on conventional runways.

The B model can hover
and land vertically

and the C model is made for
landing on aircraft carriers

and has a tail hook.

The F-35 first flew in 2006,
entered service in 2015,

and today, is utilized
by the US Air Force,

Navy and Marine Corps.

To date, nine countries
around the world

operate the F-35 on
their own home soil

and it's operated on 26
bases around the world.

We're here at my alma mater,

the United States
Air Force Academy.

Today, we're here to learn

about our fifth-generation
F-35 Lightning II

fighter aircraft.

So we've both flown
fourth-generation fighters.

For you, the F-15
Eagle, for me, the F-16,

which I absolutely loved,

but I'm dying to know what's
so special about the F-35?

- The F-35 is far

and away our most
technologically
advanced fighter.

It's the only
fifth-generation fighter

that is continuing to come
off the production line.

It represents a generational
leap in technology capabilities

and capacities and it's
all about lethality

and survivability.

Lethality, i.e., you can go out,

fly an aircraft and achieve
your mission objectives,

whether it's dropping a
bomb or launching a missile

and survivability, if
somebody's trying to stop you

from doing that from the
ground or from the air,

you know that you're
gonna be able to come back

from that mission without
having to take a ride

in a parachute on the way down.

- Nobody wants to
take that silk ride.

Can you tell us a little bit
about how they're different

from the older generations to
what you found in the F-35?

- Yeah, so the Air Force
has, over the years,

kind of described or binned
their fighters into generations,

first-gen,
second-gen, third-gen,
fourth-gen, fifth-gen.

The way that I view them
is the first-generation

was really our first
frontline fighters

that the Air Force flew.

Think, like, the F-86s
in the Korean War.

Second-generation, now,
you're kind of talking

our century series aircraft,

you know, the F-100,
the F-104, the F-105,

kind of the early Vietnam era.

And then our
third-generation fighters

were the more
advanced, multi-roll,
supersonic with radars,

kind of think the
F-4 and the F-111.

Fourth-generation fighters
are kind of our existing,

but older portion of our
fleet, the F-15s, the F-16s,

the F-15E models.

And then the fifth-generation
fleet is typically described

as the F-22 and the F-35s.

- What role does the
F-35 play in deterrence?

- Nobody wants to
get into war, right?

That is like the
worst case scenario.

So if we can deter
our adversaries that
are even considering

going into a conflict with us

and they know that we've
got a fleet of F-35s,

a fleet of F-22s and a wide
range of other capabilities

and capacities to back them up,

hopefully, that makes them
less inclined to cross a line

where we get in
a shooting match.

So deterrence is,
without a doubt,

the number one imperative,
but if that all fails,

we've got the muscle to
back it up if we need it.

A couple of key components
to, specifically the F-35,

when you think about fifth-gen,

stealth is certainly an
absolutely critical component

to a fifth-generation fighter.

So you can operate
with this concept

that we call tactical impunity.

So you can prosecute
your attack,

go out and accomplish your
mission without being at threat

or at risk or
distracted by an enemy

that knows where you are.

And when they know
where you are,

they can find a
way to distract you

or, even worse, target
you and shoot you.

And then it's about integrated
avionics and advanced sensors

and the F-35 has
all three of those

and they're getting better
with every single one

that we get off the
production line.

- Now that we've learned a
little bit about the technology

behind the F-35 and
how we've advanced

to this fifth-generation
fighter,

let's go check out
how it's built.

We're here at Lockheed Martin's
jet production facility

in Fort Worth, Texas.

This historic plant has
been producing airplanes

since World War II and today,

we're entering the
production facility

to get an inside peak at
the most advanced fighter

of them all, the F-35.

This is the F-35 assembly line
made up of 300 workstations,

50 robots, and 4,000
humans working together

along this mile long stretch.

This place is enormous.

- This building has been
here for many, many,

many decades building
all kinds of aircraft.

Today, we're building
the F-35 here.

When I first started, we
were building the F-16

and, in fact, a little bit
center fuselage for the F-22.

But the factory, even though
it's the same outside walls,

a little over a mile long, it's
very different inside today.

We're building at an incredible
rate we've never seen

before in a fighter aircraft.

There's a tremendous amount
of technology on this floor,

90,000 fasteners
in every airplane.

So if we had somebody
installing 90,000 fasteners,

it would take a lot of time

and, frankly, may
not be so repeatable.

So we bring robots in,

they do installation
of these fasteners,

they do coating work for us
and it frees up our mechanics to

do really the craftsman's work.

- So it's a little different

than the Rosie the Riveter days.

For the amount of work
that's being accomplished

every single day, you walk in

and you can practically
hear a pin drop in here.

- It is pretty cool.

And it is, that's the change,
the combination of automation

and technology combined
with skilled craftsmen.

- Could you talk a little bit

about some of those
special characteristics

that make the F-35 so powerful?

- I'll start with
low observability.

What that means is it
gives us the opportunity

to get into the enemy airspace
without them seeing us,

without being detected.

And it's a very fundamental
feature of fifth-generation

that the F-35 has mastered.

And, frankly, the
F-35 has been learning

from those that came before it.

Probably one of the most unique
things that the F-35 brought

is the ability to communicate
not just to other F-35s,

but to all the other
players in the battle space,

to be able to share
information from an F-35

to another F-35 or to a ship

or perhaps bringing
it from a satellite.

So when you think about
all that's out there,

the F-35 is the
central node in that,

it's the quarterback
out on the field.

The jets that are rolling
off the line today,

in a couple years,
they'll be new

and different capabilities

and we've been able
to accommodate that.

As the threat advances, we're
going to stay in front of it.

- As we make our
way down the line,

these jets are really
starting to take shape.

Along the way, parts and
components are added,

like building blocks.

Every aircraft is made to
order and bears the flag

of the country
that's adopting it.

About 150 F-35s roll
out the door every year.

So Eloy, we're here in this
beautiful production facility

where these babies are made.

I gotta hear a little bit more

about just how are
these aircraft built?

- The production
system's set in place

in this most powerful
building in the world

and there's lots of
teams that come together.

We're constantly in
continuous improvement.

Each section that it comes in,

you get to see the beauty
of it come together

until we reach the final end

and we do the engine
install at the very end.

And then when it comes
out to the paint shop

and we finally get a beautiful
bird that you see in the sky.

- I also heard that you're
not the first in your family

to work in this plant.

Can you tell us a little
bit about your parents?

- Yeah, I'm actually
the second-generation

to build such a
prestigious aircraft.

My parents were on
the F-16 program,

so I was a product of
this kind of environment.

So it is a very prideful thing
to follow in their footsteps

and actually be a part
of the process they were

for their generation.

And today's warfighter
is far beyond anything

that I've ever seen
on the entire planet.

We do have the air
superiority around the world.

- Eloy, does this
place ever shut down

or do you guys operate 24/7?

- This aircraft cannot
be built on one shift.

We have over 4,000 people
working round the clock

to produce this aircraft.

- Each jet spends about
18 months in production

until the newest F-35
rolls off the line,

ready to turn and burn
on its first flight.

We've made it to
the end of the line

and one of the people
who gets to test the F-35

on its first flight is Monessa
Balzhiser, call sign Siren.

She's the first female
F-35 production test pilot

joining an elite group
of female F-35 pilots

who came before her.

As Colorado's first
lady fighter pilot,

I'm so excited to meet
another first in her field.

So the F-35 takes
center stage today,

but what really brought you
to Lockheed, originally?

- I actually joined
Lockheed Martin

as a F-16 engineer because
that was my background

and what I knew for so long.

And then I got lucky
enough to be asked to fly

for the company.

I eventually started
off in the F-16

and then got offered the job

to start flying
the F-35 as well.

I probably have the
best job in the company.

So yeah, welcome to the F-35.

- So you get to
be the first pilot

to get your hands on this jet.

It comes off the production line

and they hand it over to you.

Can you tell me a little
bit about what that's like?

- Literally, it's like a
new car for me, new smell,

you know, the buttons
are nice and crisp.

You know, the production
line technicians,

they did a fabulous job of
putting the jet together

and then it gets handed
into final assembly

and then the maintainers
bring it out here for us

to climb into the cockpit.

What you see in front of
you is the F-35A model.

It is the cornerstone
of 21st century security

and it is a force multiplier
because it does so many roles

and its capabilities
are unmatched.

Hidden in this glass area

and located in the
front of the F-35

is what we call, the pilots
call, the EOTS system

or the electro optical
targeting system.

That is now internalized
into the F-35,

makes it part of stealth.

- Wow.

- And then also is a key
feature in our sensor fusion.

So it's all compacted
into this one area.

But the great thing
is this one sensor

talks to everything
around the jet.

- So thanks to this
piece of technology,

the jet really becomes
a thinking part of
the crew, right?

It's like you're flying
a giant computer.

- Absolutely.

And it's just one of the
many things around this jet

that provides that sensor
fusion or flying computer

that you always talk about.

- Can't fly the real jet,
but let's go fly the sim.

So no two-seaters out there
for me to fly in the line,

right?
- No, sorry.

- All right.
- Just single seats.

- All right, let's do it.

- It's like you've
done this before.

- Oh, it's like home.

I feel like everything I
could possibly wanna see

is available to me
all at the same time.

- It's a different
mindset for F-35 pilot.

They manage the battlefield
and they manage battle space,

sharing data, air and ground.

- So flying the jet itself

is supposed to be
relatively simple.

So you can do all that.

- They made it easy, so that
the pilot can look inside,

and manage the sensors.

The fly by wire system
allows the pilot

to really almost go hands off.

- Yeah.
- Super stable aircraft.

- Wow.
- And now touching inside

to manage everything.

Generally, you'll take off,
depending on your configuration,

looking about 150 knots,

pull back on the stick to
about 10, 13 degrees nose high,

and then you're pretty
much letting the jet fly

off the runway,
getting your gear up.

There you go.

Felt the afterburner
there, easy.

- This thing is so
easy to take off.

Even I could fly it
after all those years.

- It comes back to you though,

right?
- It does.

It's like riding a bike,
it's like flying a jet.

- So one thing I
wanted to show you

was our automated ground
collision avoidance system.

It's saved 13 pilots lives.
- Yeah.

- Lockheed Martin
pilots were saying,

"We need to get
this in the F-35s."

- That's like an
autopilot that takes over?

- Absolutely.
- And, hopefully,

keeps you from crashing.

That's how it saved all
those lives already.

- The AG cast system,
what it will do,

it will take control
of the flight controls

if it feels that you
are within three seconds

of hitting the ground,

and that's based off of your
altitude, your air speed,

your attitude of the jet.

It will use the
necessary amount of Gs

to get you flying
straight, level.

So you see chevrons come and-

- So natural.

Wow, what an incredible
piece of technology.

I'm so glad that it in
every one of the jets

that are leaving the line.

So are those 13 people that
are alive today because of it.

- Oh, yeah.

- What an amazing day, getting
to see the jet up close,

but duty calls.

- Well, thanks for stopping
by Lockheed Martin.

- All right, I'm outta here.

- Let's go.

- From the factory to the field,

let's see this thing in action.

We're here at Marine
Corps Air Station Miramar.

We're gonna hang out

with an operational
F-35 squadron today,

Squadron VMFA 314, home
of the Black Knights

and the only Marine
Corps squadron

to fly the F-35C variant.

They're hosting us for the day

and giving us a day in
the life of an F-35 pilot.

Snooki, Everybody
wants to show up,

hop in the jet and go turn
and burn and have some fun,

right, but there's a
lot more steps involved

than just showing up and flying.

- Yeah, absolutely.
- Can you walk us through?

- I wish it was that easy.

So I tell everybody it's not
just about the flight itself.

You got the preparation
on the front side.

So that's all the mission
planning that you do

with computers
nowadays upstairs.

And then you actually gotta talk

about what you just planned,
so that's called the brief.

- It's time to go into
the flight briefing room

where we're gonna cover the
details of today's mission.

Come on.

Briefings take place before
and after each flight

and are at least an hour each,

depending on mission complexity.

- Mission overview, we'll
take off outta here.

Head out to the R 2301 West,

knockout our high aspect
BFM, just amongst ourselves,

11:25, the 401 F-5s
are gonna take off.

We're gonna knockout
our dissimilar BFM

for the second code for today.

What this could
look like for you,

as you go vertically
into this merge

and you mis-assessed his energy,

maybe you thought he was slow

and couldn't come up
to meet you, right?

Say, for example,
you decide to go up,

exploit the vertical and you
realize that he's got energy

to come up and match you.

If you were to take lead
pursuit in this case,

sure, it's gonna
probably achieve a
weapon solution faster,

but you also realize you're
giving him a blue sky background

and the ability to pull
forward on his canopy

and achieve a shot against you.

Any questions on what
we're gonna do today?

- No, sir.

- All right, let's
get dressed and go.

- So that's the flight brief.

It's time to suit up.

- All right, so
yeah, we're here.

This is where we have
all of our flight gear.

We have the jacket with all
of the survival gear on it

as well as the g-suit.

And then this is where
we keep our helmets.

- Costing hundreds of
thousands of dollars a piece,

each helmet is as specialized
as the jets themselves.

Fitting a helmet to a pilot
is a two-day fitting process

that involves pupil measurement

and can be affected by slight
variations in hair length

or even weight.

The helmet nearly becomes an
extension of the pilot's body.

- You put this helmet on,
it is sized, you know,

laser cut for your head,

and then once you're wearing it,

this will connect to the
aircraft on the right side

of the g-suit.

There's no physical heads
up display in the cockpit.

It's, obviously, just
in the helmet here.

With the display visor down,

that's where all of your
symbology will be combined.

And then we have an outer visor

that protects from
the sun as well.

So one of the interesting
things about this helmet

is you don't ever fly
with night vision goggles.

It's always fully integrated.

So if you have a mission
where you take off at night,

land after sunrise
or vice versa,

you don't have to take
any extra equipment,

you literally just
lift the dark visor up

and everything works perfectly.

- You're doing more than
just flying your own jet.

- Yes.
- I mean, even unarmed,

this aircraft has
so much more ability

to integrate the force.

- There are a lot of
aircraft that carry weapons

and have their own sensors.

And the F-35 is no different,

except that the sensors it
has have the ability to share

a massive amount
of targeting data

with everyone else who's
airborne or on the ground.

So what we are is we're
effectively a node

in a much larger web of systems
and our presence in a fight,

even without weapons,

we have the ability to allow
other aircraft to participate

and be more survivable
and lethal in ways

that they would not be if
the F-35 were not there.

- The thing that
really strikes me

is the fact that there's only
one seat in these aircraft.

So what are you guys
doing to take a pilot

from the simulator to
their first sortie,

which is also their
first solo in the F-35?

- The way we handle that

is actually through a little
bit longer ground school

than you're probably used to,

to include more
stimulator training.

When you have your first flight,

there's an instructor in
another aircraft chasing you.

So you do have that
safety net initially,

but it is an increased
amount of trust

that is given in
F-35 pilots initially

to learn the aircraft
and fly it by themselves.

But we've adjusted to
that as a community.

And from that point,

it's very similar to any other
fighter aircraft training

you would go through,

where you go through,
initially, familiarization

and then you start to
introduce more complex types

of flying, formation, night
flying, air to surface,

air to air, and then typically
carrier qualification,

where you go out to the
ship both day and night

and take arrested landings

as well as catapults
in the F-35C.

That's the culmination of your
ability to fly the aircraft.

And that's really, from start
to finish, how that all works.

- So you just got
back from deployment,

working with our
coalition forces

on the other side of the world.

Where were you and how well
does the F-35 integrating

out there in the
real air battlefield?

- The aircraft's
performing very well.

The range, the
sensor performance

and the ability to integrate
and share information

with the fourth-gen platform,

the F-35 really
proved its worth.

Where we were, whether
that be the Philippine Sea,

East China Sea, South
China Sea, et cetera,

we were able to meet
higher objectives

for just really being present

and showing what an air wing
of the future looks like

with F-35 integrated.

It's very rewarding as well
to really be at the tip

of the spear, you know, as an
air wing mission commander,

going out and planning
whatever type of exercise

we were doing to have F-35
really at the forefront of that

and controlling
the whole exercise.

It was absolutely the most
fulfilling thing I've done

so far in my career.

- Our kids all wanted to fly
the F-16, like mom and dad,

but after everything I'm
learning about the F-35,

I gotta say they're cleared hot

if they wanna follow
into the F-35 world.

It's so impressive.

And as the airplane
continues to evolve,

I can't wait to see
where the F-35 takes us.

Snooki, you're the
commanding officer

here at the 314th.

You're in a Marine
Corps fighter squadron.

You deploy on an
aircraft carrier,

yet, you train here at Miramar.

Can you tell me a
little bit about that?

- Yeah, absolutely.

And we're a pretty
unique squadron within
the Marine Corps,

actually the only
F-35C squadron.

For us, the F-35C was designed
for an aircraft carrier.

However, being Marines,
we kind of alternate

between deploying with
the Navy on the carrier

and then land-based
operations as well.

So when we're focused on
land-based operations,

like this summer, we're talking
about operations out there

in like the South Pacific
Islands, in Australia

and really getting out there

and working with our
allies and partners.

It's about training for
real world operations.

So we train like we fight.

(engine humming)

- So the pilot just
completed his walk around,

hopped in the cockpit,
did some final checks,

and you can hear, he's
cranking up the engine.

It's time to go fly.

These guys are getting ready
to go fly high aspect BFM.

Basically, they're
gonna dog fight

and they're probably
gonna be up in the air

for about an hour-and-a-half.

Man, I am jealous.

Fights on.

(plane engine humming)

(gentle upbeat music)

Wow.

Yeah.

(plane engine humming)

Woohoo.

- Oh, that was so cool,
seeing this thing fly.

The F-35 is such an
amazing aircraft.

The F-35C model is
especially cool.

It's the biggest one
of all three variants.

It's used for landing
on aircraft carriers

and it has a ton of range.

Let's go talk aircraft carriers.

So we got F-35s landing
on aircraft carriers.

Why do we put them on
the boats to begin with?

- So the F-35 Charlies are
on the aircraft carrier

because we are the 911 response
to the world in crisis.

The F-35 plays such
a key role in that

is because with the
technology we provide,

we can connect everybody
from Legacy, in the air,

in the ground and give
them a much bigger

and more detailed picture
of what we're facing,

so that they can
complete their missions.

- What does the
flight deck controller

do on the aircraft carrier?

- So as a flight deck
controller, an FDC,

I am the middle person
that talks with the dog

and the tower, so that
way, we are maneuvering.

Because on the flight deck,

you have about 40 to 50 aircraft

at one time maneuvering
in a very small area,

which is about the length
of three football fields.

So you have three football
fields with 50-plus aircraft,

all moving, all turning
at the same time.

So my job is to make sure
that everyone is safe,

making sure that the dog
knows where my aircraft are,

compared to the rest
of the squadron.

- What's it like when the
airplane comes in to land?

Like, how does that look?

- It's called a
controlled chaos.

It's a controlled chaos
for a specific reason

because of the chaotic mindset

of everyone moving all
the aircraft around.

What stands out with
the F-35 Charlie

compared to the
Alphas and the Bravos

is that we have a tail hook,

which catches an arresting cable

and the back end of
the aircraft carrier,

which assisted to get to that
stop when it comes to land.

- I think landing on
the aircraft carrier

has got to be one of the
most impressive things

I've ever seen.

I would love to
experience that someday,

but you know what it is
more impressive to watch,

is the B model with the short
takeoff, vertical landing.

I understand you have
some experience with
that one as well.

- I do have previous
experience with the F-35 Bravo,

which is the Marine
Corps's replacement variant

for the AV-8B carrier.

So they operate off of
what we call an LHD,

which is a smaller
sized carrier,

which holds helicopters
and the F-35 Bravo.

So with the rest
of the branches,

Air Force and the Navy and
the Marines working together

with the F-35 program,

it does help everyone
integrate with one another.

- Where do you see the future
of the air battle turning?

- Fast forward 10 years,
I see F-35s, F-15Es,

and EXs, F-16s and partner
that with the B-21

and you're gonna have
a heck of a force.

- When we were out there
on the battlefield,

there were things that we
did that were unprecedented

that they had never seen
before, and what we look at 10,

20 years from now is
gonna be a different

and even more effective F-35
ready for the future fight.

- When I think about
the legacy of it,

it's enabling
others in the fleet

and from a relationship
across the globe,

all the allies coming together.

It does represent the baseline

of our fifth-generation
fighter aircraft.

- I think the F-35 is
not only the most capable

fifth-generation aircraft
that we have now,

but it's also the most capable
aircraft for the future.

- It was so inspiring to learn

about the incredible
technology behind the F-35

and how it will protect
our country and our allies,

From all of us here

at Wings over the Rockies
Air & Space Museum,

we're looking forward to
taking you on more adventures,

exploring aviation on
our planet and beyond.

See you next time on
"Behind the Wings."

(gentle upbeat music)