F-35 Gets Its Name

July 7, 2006
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley announces that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be called the Lightning II at a ceremony unveiling the first flight-test model at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility. The moniker is a tribute to the original P-38 Lightning fighter, flown by the top two American aces, Maj. Richard Bong and Maj. Thomas McGuire.

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