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V
ery few are the short-take-of and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft existing today,
even less are those under development. In fact, of dozens of VTOL and V/STOL
designs tried from the 1950s to 1980s, only the British subsonic Hawker Siddeley Har-
rier/Sea Harrier and the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-38 “Forger” ever reached operational sta-
tus; with the “Forger” being withdrawn shortly after the collapse of the USSR twenty
years back. Of these two aircraft, only did the Harrier/Sea Harrier reach combat status,
frst during the FalklandsWar three decades ago, and later, along with its U.S. brethren,
during war operations in the Balkans, in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the “second ge-
neration STOVL”, i.e. the Harrier II (aka AV-8B or Harrier GR.5, a joint Anglo-U.S. design),
went forthrightly on the war path, always with a weighty outcome. Since then, pro-
gresses in that feld have been rare and sedate.
The only next generation STOVL fghter
Today a sole “third generation STOVL” exists: the F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Figh-
ter (JSF), a quite stupendous aircraft designed by Lockheed Martin specifcally for the
U.S. Marine Corps. Presently more or less in jeopardy, on account of overcosts and pro-
A imagem do que está por vir: um Lockheed
Martin F-35B é inspecionado no deck do USS
Wasp (LHD 1) durante o outono de 2011.
The shape of things to come: a Lockheed Martin
F-35B on the deck of USS Wasp (LHD 1) during
the fall of 2011.
© U.S. Navy
Um caça STOVL Lockheed Martin F-35B exe-
cuta um pouso vertical durante testes iniciais
conduzidos em Patuxent River. O F-35B é o
sucessor escolhido do AV-8 Harrier II.
A Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL fighter
performs a vertical landing during early tests
conducted at Patuxent River.
The F-35B is the
Marine Corps Joint Strike Force variant of the
Joint Strike Fighter
.
© LMC
Number 3 - 2012
www.latinaero.com
Apenas um caça STOVL está
em pleno desenvolvimento em
todo mundo hoje: o Lockheed
Martin F-35B. Apelidado de jump
jet de ‘‘terceira geração’’, ele é um
programa essencial para o U.S.
Marine Corps, seu mais firme e
ferrenho defensor.
Only one STOVL fighter is in full
development in the world today:
the Lockheed Martin F-35B.
Dubbed the “third generation”
jump jet, it is a key programme
for the U.S. Marine Corps,
its most resolute supporter.
agora vai ou racha
it’s now make or break
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