Aircraft experts widely reject Trump’s proposed twin-engine F-55 upgrade of the F-35, calling it unrealistic without a complete redesign. This would effectively make a new aircraft, not an upgraded variant.
Aviation experts have said President Donald Trump’s proposed upgrade of the single-engine Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to a twin-engine F-55 is not remotely feasible. While speaking on Thursday in Doha, Qatar, he suggested such an aircraft was already in the works.
“We’re going to do an F-35 and, I think, if we get the right price, we have to get the right price, that’ll be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35,” the president suggested.
“That’s going to be a substantial upgrade, but it’s also going to be with two engines, because an F-35 has a single engine. I don’t like single engines.”
Trump wasn’t entirely clear about his dislike for single-engine aircraft, other than that he expected one to fail.
As previously reported, the initial contract for the Joint Strike Fighter called for a single engine, which was considered more efficient and cost-effective than using two smaller engines. Aviation experts have noted that maintaining a single engine can be less complex and reduce the overall cost for the program. It is unclear how two F135 engines could be employed on the airframe without substantial redesigns.
According to The War Zone, upgrading the F-35 to a twin-engine fighter would “require an extensive redesign of the F-35 airframe and numerous subsystems to accomplish,” complicated by the fact that there are three variants of the F-35 in service.
“In the case of the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, there would appear to be no realistic option of creating an equivalent twin-engine version of the F-55,” TWZ added.
Trump’s F-35 Plans Would Scrap the Current F-35
Numerous aviation outlets have responded to Trump’s calls to upgrade the F-35, and there is an almost universal consensus: it can’t be done without completely redesigning the aircraft from scratch.
“On the other hand, this may justify using the new name F-55 instead of keeping the old F-35,” suggested Defense Express.
“But all these challenges invoke a different question: why install an additional engine in this aircraft at all, because in the end, the cost will skyrocket and complicate its maintenance with little to offer in return.”
Boeing is already contracted to build the sixth-generation F-47, the centerpiece system of systems of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, so the United States Air Force likely doesn’t have the budget to build it and an F-55 simultaneously. Boeing was selected for a reason, and while Lockheed Martin has floated an idea that some of the technology could be employed on an upgraded F-35 Lightning II, there was no suggestion it would completely redesign the fighter from the ground up.
“When you add a second engine to an F-35, it stops being an F-35. There’s no room in the current airframe for a second engine. You can keep the combat system and even the cockpit, but you have to build the rest of the plane around it,” J.J. Gertler, senior analyst with the Teal Group, told Breaking Defense.
He said such an aircraft only makes sense if it is Lockheed Martin’s design for the NGAD.
“The new airframe doesn’t just have to be bigger, it has to be stronger to handle double the thrust. Two engines mean a much higher top speed, so you probably have to rethink the wing and tail, and certainly the intakes,” Gertler added.
“So saying an F-55 is an upgraded F-35 is like saying a mansion is an upgraded bungalow.”
The larger aircraft would likely lose some of its stealth capability.
“I don’t think it is probably very well thought out,” Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the Center for a New American Security defense program, also told Breaking Defense.
“Adding a significant change, like an engine, is gonna have ramifications that flow through the entire airframe, and when you have an F-35 that is designed to be low observable… you’re going to have to be redoing all of the calculations and shaping actually to maintain the level of stealth that it has.”
The final consideration is that Trump may have inadvertently revealed details about the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program. Though there had been speculation in March that an award was pending, recent reports now suggest the program could be delayed by years.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman were competing to win the contract to design and build the replacement for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, but Lockheed Martin was eliminated. The aerospace giant may be back in the running, or the president just offered a personal opinion.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ The White House.
