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Three crew, six engines, two fuselares, the largest wing ever built. After 6 years of design, engineering, and construction, The United States military, home to the largest fleet of fighter aircraft on the planet. They're the essential tool of modern warfare. Carry strike group 10. capable of defending airspace over land and at sea anywhere on the face of the earth. But with the potential for conflict to arise at any moment, staying one step ahead of an unknown enemy with unknown capabilities presents an enormous challenge. Today, engineers have pushed the boundaries of aviation technology further than ever before and created a brand new revolutionary fighter aircraft, the F35 Lightning 2.
This multi-roll fighter is the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world. This is the F-35C Lightning 2. It's the US Navy and US Marine Corps carrier capable version of the joint strike fighter designed to launch from and recover two Ford and Nimtts class aircraft carriers. Commander Mark Cochran is part of a small group of pilots trusted to fly the Navy's brand new over $100 million weapon. The F-35 Lightning 2 takes its name from the P38 Lightning made by Loheed Martin Corporation during World War II. Both aircraft are cutting edge for their day.
Both aircraft are multi-roll and both aircraft are to be used across all theaters of conflict. But despite their similarities, the F-35 has capabilities engineers in the 1930s could have only dreamed of. All right. So, from front to back, some sensors that you'll find on the F-35 are some mission systems. At the front, you're going to have an active electronically scanned array radar. They can locate targets just by their physical presence. After that, you're going to have the electrooptical targeting system. It's going to allow us to target aircraft and ground targets via their IR uh signature. Above that, you'll have the distributed aperture system or DAS, which is primary function is missile
warning. So, to see uh missiles launched by another aircraft. However, uh it also provides the pilot the ability to see in the dark. Moving out, we're going to have the largest wing of the F-35 family, and that's designed for increased maneuverability. Uh it increases our range. At the F-35 factory in Texas, the task of turning raw materials into a fullyfledged war machine is the responsibility of senior fellow Don Kard. There's about 7 and 12 million square feet total here in Fort Worth uh for building the airplanes plus storage. 1 and a2 kilometers long and covering an area the size of over 130 football pitches, the F-35 factory is one of the most advanced in the world.
Well, first of all, we get lots of parts. So, for the wings and forward fuselages, we get composite parts, metal parts, tubes and wires from all of our suppliers. Each station on the factory floor carries out a specific role. At one end of the mile, the forward fuselage nose and cockpit section is assembled. Whilst at the other, the wing sections are formed and mounted together. At final assembly, the control surfaces are added and the F-35 gets its Prattton Whitney engine before leaving the factory for final checks and flight testing.
This aircraft is about as advanced as it gets in terms of technology. At the F-35 factory in Texas, chief test pilot Alan Norman is getting handson with this upgraded thrust vectoring system. Every time I get in the airplane, it's I know it might sound cliche, but I almost have to pinch myself a little bit for how much fun I'm I'm going to have. One of the easiest things about the airplane is honestly one of the hardest things about other airplanes, which is to get this airplane in the configuration to hover and the ability of this airplane to hover. For the pilot, all it is for us is a few button
switches. The centerpiece of the F-35B's thrust vectoring capability is its Rolls-Royce lift fan. As the pilot engages hover mode, it reveals itself and begins rotating, reaching 29,000 horsepower, drawing in enough air to empty a squash court in just over 1 second. Connected to the main engine via a drive shaft, it produces a downwardflowing column of air at the front of the plane. At the rear, the exhaust nozzle twists, aiming its thrust toward the ground. For directional control, bypass thrust from the main engine is directed to outlets located under the wings, allowing the F-35B to gently touch down. For the team behind this incredible airplane, the sense of achievement is untold. When I think about all the engineering
and all the technology that's gone into the F-35, I'm still amazed to this day. everything that we've done, everything we've put into it, and honestly, what will carry on way past the F-35's day that changed how we fly, what we do. When I see an F-35 flying, and I don't care what variant it is, I feel absolutely proud. I've worked on this program in many different aspects over the years, and it just knocks my socks off every time. A remote outpost in western Germany, home to NATO's main operating base. This specialist crew from around the world are constantly on alert.
Their job to spot hostile intrusion as they protect state borders that span the northern hemisphere. The military are permanently on the lookout for different types of threats from all around the world. one of the planet's most sophisticated surveillance aircraft, able to seek out, locate, and defend against threats, no matter how fast moving or well hidden. This is a massive and highly sophisticated machine. It's carrying 4.7 tons of ingenious technology on its back. 7.6 tons of equipment in the body of the plane. That's a staggering 12.3 tons of specialist equipment. And it's airborne.
The technology behind this amazing aircraft is kind of magic. It's just a tremendous piece of engineering. This aircraft is like no other. Able to see threats not only in the air but also at sea. Operated by a specialist crew of engineers and technicians, surveillance experts and weapons controllers. Beneath the crew lies state-of-the-art signal amplifiers, the nerve center of this aircraft's most unique feature. An enormous 9 m rotating rad dome housing a 1 million watt radar system with a scanning range of 300,000 km an area larger than Arizona The Awax technical supremacy also enables it to function as a flying command post for large and complex
missions. This incredible machine can be used to coordinate up to 150 aircraft at one time, and that's what makes it so extraordinary. There has never been an aircraft with this capability in military history. It's an impressively fast and accurate way of keeping the airspace safe. When the Awax is in the air, nothing and nobody can hide. Today, the crew have been scrambled to investigate suspicious activity due south. They'll be airborne for 12 hours. Traffic bra 330.
Awax is an incredibly complex piece of aviation equipment. The machine itself is awesome. The number of pieces that interplay is almost beyond comprehension. And all the groundbreaking technology that's been added enables Awax to carry out the most complicated of missions. But creating a machine like this poses massive challenges. So how do you mount this huge radar system on the back of an airplane? So we are going close forward. Engineer Roger Snider services the radar assembly. The Rayome's interior is the heart of Awax only seen by the qualified few. Up front you see a motor who turns the antenna.
It's a hydraulic motor. This make it possible that the antenna is spinning at six rotations per minute. Up here you have three receiver protectors and just below low noise amplifiers. But powering this million watt system provides engineers with a further problem. One challenge in transmitting at that high power of course is the heat that's generated by the transmitter. Therefore, we are cooling and stabilizing the temperature with fluoride carbon and therefore having a very stable temperature. What is important for the antenna to work as designed. High temperatures inside could also cause the rayome structure to distort, obstructing the radio waves. So the honeycombs impregnated with a resin mix that helps maintain the rad stability
during temperature changes. It's the perfect environment for radar transmission. We are able to work and pick up targets with less noise. Therefore achieving a higher range. Octane 58 magic loud and clear. Such a highly sophisticated cooling system is the only reason Awax is able to achieve its mission. 33,000 passing from west. It's an extraordinary and seemingly impossible feat of engineering. Awex is engineered to be the most EMPresistant plane possible.
An aircraft structure designed and built to withstand and redistribute electrical charges. Door seals fitted with EMP conducting gaskets. But the EMP proofing doesn't stop there. All the cabinets inside the aircraft are also smaller cages here protecting all the electronics inside even further. And the sensitive radar equipment is shielded too. There are also filters in the lines from the antennas filtering out whatever spikes of electromagnetic energy is coming through there. But there's still one more challenge. The plane's windows.
Glass doesn't stop EMP. So the windows are laced with a fine wire mesh. The holes are smaller than the electromagnetic waves so they won't pass through it and the crew can see out. left. You can do 180 left. Easy inbound CP. Okay. 100. Yep. 50 40 30. The mission today has analyzed a huge amount of data to build a clear picture of activity across the Mediterranean in and out of North Africa. The classified information has been relayed directly to Allied NATO forces. Excellent. No wonder Awax has been declared the most significant single tactical improvement since the advent of radar.
It's uh incredible how people manage to overcome all these challenges. Putting radars in here, electronic systems here, inertia navigation systems. This aircraft is just a tremendous piece of engineering and I'm actually very glad that I'm allowed to help maintaining it. The Mojave Air and Spaceport, Southern California. At this secretive facility, an aeronautical revolution is occurring. Engineers are preparing to create history by flying a new aircraft for the very first time. designed to lift a 220
ton payload to altitudes of over 9,000 m. If Zack Crever and his team can get off the ground, they will set a new aviation record. To achieve this goal, they've had to redefine aeronautical engineering and create an airplane unlike any other. The Strat Launch is in a league of its own in terms of airplanes. When it comes to just sheer size, wingspan, engines, fuselages, nothing can compare to Strat Launch. It is the world's largest wingspan airplane. 385 ft wingspan. That is roughly the size if you took a Saturn 5 rocket from the Apollo days and laid it on its side. That's roughly the length of our wing. It's also longer than the
first three flights that the Wright brothers did combined. Standing over four stories high and with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747, Strata Launch is the largest aircraft ever constructed. Powered by six gigantic engines, each producing over 50,000 lb of thrust. Its mission to carry rockets and prototype aircraft to altitudes of over 9,000 m. before releasing them into the atmosphere or beyond. Lifting this much weight means that every part of Strata Launch's airframe needs to be superersized, including its elevator control surfaces, the devices that enable the airplane to ascend and descend.
By tilting the elevator up, the pilot changes the air flow over the wing and tail, causing the plane to climb and vice versa. In order to make the airplane pitch to climb or dive, we need enough control surface that will change the aerodynamics over the tail and move the tail, which then moves the rest of the airplane. Measuring 8.7 by 1.7 m, the four elevators are the largest control surfaces on Strata Launch. Our elevators are larger than you will find on most conventional aircraft simply because of the weight and the size of the airplane that we need to move. But having surfaces this large causes a problem. When in flight, the force of
the air passing over them would make them impossible for Evan to move with muscle power alone. There would be no way a person could move that physically. The forces would be far too high. The Strat Launch has control surfaces that are hydraulically powered, but they're mechanically signaled, which means we have cables running from the yolk up in the front cockpit all the way to all the different control surfaces. We said, "Well, rather than have a bunch of computers that would control the hydraulic system and display that information to the pilots like it's done on a modern airliner, we go back to the old 747 or Hercules H4 days.
Despite the difference in design, some things remain the same even 70 years later. To get an airplane this sized into the sky still primarily requires two things. lift and thrust. It's the world's largest wingspan. Even the biggest 747 or Airbus, their wing stretches from our outer engine to the other outer engine. And we've got another 60 or 70 ft of wing on either end of that. Uh so truly in terms of wingspan, this is something that no one else matches. But now the time has come for the team to attempt to get this gigantic aircraft into the sky for the very first time.
10 1.1. If they are successful, they will pass into the realms of aviation legend. Three crew, six engines, two fuselares, the largest wing ever built. After 6 years of design, engineering, and construction, Oh my gosh, dude. Get out of here. We put the power up and pull back on the column. It's like an elevator ride going up. Going up on 150. The size of the aircraft does change the way we fly. We do things slow to get there faster. Do gentle turns. Uh no, no high bank maneuvers, no high G maneuvers. It is all slow and steady wins the race. Flying this airplane is not like piloting a racing yacht. It's more like a super tanker. It's going the direction it is going. And in order to change that direction, you have to think ahead.
That touch slow. He's going to pitch down just a little. Engines look good. After 149 minutes in the air, Evan and the crew line Strata Launch up for the most nerve-wracking moment of the flight. Super runway 3 at six. at 500 ft. Looking good. We're stable. We're on our line. 200 ft. Still stable. Still on our line. Contact. Touchdown. We straighten the plane out on the runway. Break to a stop. It's a feat of engineering few thought possible. I've been working on Strata Launch for 7 years now and it's uh a bit like my baby and uh designing it, seeing
it come to fruition and seeing it fly by looking to great pioneers of the past for inspiration, adapting their ideas, refining their designs, and overcoming monumental challenges. I never thought that I would work on an airplane this size or of this complexity or this groundbreaking. Working on this airplane was kind of like winning the aerospace job lottery. Engineers have built an agedefining airplane and succeeded in making the impossible possible. I think that in 40 to 50 years when we look at aviation milestones, this will stand out as one of those milestones.
