The U.S. Air Force has successfully restored an F-35A Lightning II using two previously damaged F-35 aircraft.
In a press release, the U.S. Air Force’s 388th Fighter Wing, which announced the development, said an interagency team involving the F-35 Joint Program Office, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the 388th Fighter Wing, and Lockheed Martin participated in the restoration project.
According to The Aviationist, the aircraft, also known as “Franken-Lightning,” was originally damaged in June 2020 after encountering a nose landing gear separation at Hill Air Force Base (AFB) in Utah. Its nose section was reportedly replaced with that of AF-27, an F-35 that suffered an engine fire at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in 2014.
For the past year, the aircraft has been housed in the 4th Fighter Generation Squadron, (FGS) at Hill AFB, where maintainers completed the final stages of its restoration.
“When we received the aircraft, it was pretty much a shell,” Senior Airman Jaguar Arnold, the aircraft’s dedicated crew chief from the 4th FGS was quoted as saying. “There were a lot of tasks to complete that we hadn’t done before at the unit level.”
The restoration effort included rewiring the jet, reconstructing its avionics systems, re-installing the landing gear while ensuring proper weight distribution, and applying coatings to restore its low-observable stealth characteristics, according to the 388th Fighter Wing.
The project resulted in significant cost savings for the Air Force. According to reports, the restoration cost was estimated at under $6 million—far less than the more than $80 million price tag of a new F-35A.
Following a successful functional check flight, the aircraft was sent to Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, for final certifications. Once completed, it will return to Hill AFB and be operated by the 4th Fighter Squadron.
