Author Description

Traditionally, fighter aircraft training has focused on exploiting the capabilities in the missions each fighter was designed for. Though multi-role aircraft are nothing new, the capabilities designed into the F-35 Lightning II span the largest mission set for a fighter to date. The breadth of mission areas the F-35 has capabilities in threatens to exceed a pilot's ability to maintain expertise in and train to effectively. In the past, the need for specialization in fighter missions occurred due to the limited capabilities of each aircraft. Current multi-role aircraft such as the F-18 and F-16 have exposed the pilot as a potential limiting factor in the number of capabilities in which a fighter squadron can effectively train.