Aero India 2023: Watching the F-35A Lightning steal the thunder
The F-16 impressed, but the F-35A was to be the showstopper. And it lived up to the expectation.
FollowThe wait had been long. Eyes steered into the distance to the enclosure where the fighters were parked, the American ones. A miscommunication saw this correspondent queue up way before time to see the lethal firepower in action. My heart sank as the ground crew informed me that I had to wait a couple more hours to witness the F-35A Lightning fighter aircraft in action.
I strolled along the tarmac, gazing at the mighty Sukhoi-30MKI and the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force standing tall alongside the American F/A-18 Super Hornets and absorbing the sound of the engines of the Brazilian Air Force's heavy-lift aircraft.Â
The crowd, meanwhile, had been gathering thick and fast. From young to old, uniformed to civilians, hundreds jostled to grab the best vantage spot from where they could spot the American firepower. The excitement was evident. The buzz grew as the pilots and ground crew swung into action to prepare the F-16 and the F-35 for their sorties. The professional manner in which the personnel executed their task was unmissable.
Image: Static display of fighter aircraft during the second day of Aero India 2023, at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru. Photograph: PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak
Around 1 pm, the skies roared. The first of the American jets, the F-16 Fighting Falcon from the Misawa airbase in Japan, took to the sky. Even as the fighter jet executed multiple manoeuvres, the anticipation was building for the F-35A to take off.Â
Nevertheless, the moment arrived roughly around 10 minutes later. As the F-35A Lightening II from the demonstration team based out of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, rolled out to the runway, the heads turned instantaneously. The F-16 impressed, but the F-35A was to be the showstopper. And it lived up to the expectation.Â
The cameras were out in video mode, and the wows were heard among the gathering as the fighter aircraft gathered speed to take off. The powerful Pratt and Whitney F135 engine sent a shiver down the body as the F-35A screamed past the gathering into the sky.Â
The F-35 A, the most advanced stealth fighter aircraft in the US air force fleet, opened up its belly to showcase its weapons bay during one of the sorties across the runway. It then proceeded to undertake multiple spins and loops. Every time the afterburners kicked in, the F-35A's combat abilities came to the fore. The pride of the US air force soared higher, and then executed stunts involving multiple-G manoeuvres.
Nobody moved from their spot. The eyes followed the aircraft wherever it went. For some, including this correspondent, it was a moment to cherish. It's not every day that one comes mano-a-mano with a fifth-generation fighter aircraft in its full grace, the symphony of man and machine. Until next time then...
