Photos: The US Military's Next-Generation F-35 Fighter Jet
Weapons test
The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 conducted the first weapons separation test of an AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) from an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant.
Soaring overhead
An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant, assigned to the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, flies above the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
Getting in formation
Four F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters fly in formation over Naval Air Station Lemoore.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.
1,800-year-old silver amulet could rewrite history of Christianity in the early Roman Empire
Oldest firearms ever found in US were abandoned by Spanish in 16th-century battle against Native Americans
James Webb telescope spots more than 100 new asteroids between Jupiter and Mars — and some are heading toward Earth