The U.S. Military and numerous allies have been breaking ground when it comes to the future of warfare. Especially in the field of aerial combat, where the F-35 Lightning hopes to be the new jack-of-all-trades of Jet fighter planes. Not that Bush needs any new toys, but hell, why not use technology to blow stuff up.

The Lightning is a single seater, single engine and stealth-capable jet with a plethora of abilities. Designed for close-air support, along with tactical bombing and holding it’s own in a dog fight, the F-35 boasts versatility as it’s lethal innuendo. Vertical take-off without the use of coven.

F-35 Helmet

The F-35 is also currently being tested with voice recognition, in hopes to allow less prep time for the pilot. I didn’t find much information on how the speech recognition would allow for less prep time, but maybe you can save your settings and the jet would preset them according to who the pilot would be at the time. What I do know is that DynaSpeak is running the test for speech recognition. Kevin Hall said it best at Sci Fi Tech with, “The software doesn’t appear to allow for flight control, though — “land” probably wouldn’t do much.”

The coolest thing about the F-35 is the new pilot helm being built by Vision systems and Helmet Intergrated Systems. Apparently, with this new helmet, pilots would be able to virtually see through the cockpit floor as well as around the ship, superimposing an infrared image of the world around them. Unfortunately, this is for night use only from what I’ve been able to find out. Not only does it make the plane practically invisible for the pilot, but it also shows important information about the craft projected within the helmet, keeping the pilot from having to look about the control panel and saving them valuable time.

F-35 Cockpit View

If the helm proves to be capable of meeting said capacity, the F-35 could become the first jet fighter without an integrated HUD. This is definitely a step forward for what I like to call, Boom Tech. Rumor has it that the F-35 also sports compartments for microwave beams and solid-state lasers, which could possibly be nearing operational status to be mounted for combat. I, myself, am also currently working on a button that grants world peace and eliminates world hunger, but that’s another story.