At the most expensive defense industrial project in world history, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is more than just a fighter jet that doesn't appear on radar. The incredible fifth generation stealth aircraft is described as a 'digital quarterback' on the battlefield thanks to its host of bleeding-edge technology never seen before.

Before the F-35, data-sharing was a tool used to enhance traditional dogfighting and strike roles, rather than the core around which the plane was designed. The Joint Strike Fighter, as it is also known, epitomizes the transition of fighter pilots in the 21st century from a driver of a kinematic machine to the commander of a vast, invisible information network.

The F-35 cockpit features a cutting-edge glass cockpit with a digital-first interface in place of conventional physical switches and a fixed Head-Up Display (HUD). Its hallmark innovations are to use enhanced automation and sensor fusion to minimize pilot workload and increase situational awareness. One of the most advanced pieces of flight gear ever created is the F-35's Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS).

The F-35's Wearable Cockpit: HMDS III

Legacy jets require a Head-Up Display (HUD), or a fixed glass plate. If the pilot looks away, they lose their flight data. On a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet or F-15 Eagle, pilots must manually attach bulky night vision goggles that restrict their view. In the F-35, the HUD is no longer a piece of glass on the dashboard; it follows the pilot's eyes. It uses a virtual display projected on the pilot's visor.

The computers in the F-35 combine radar sensor data with targeting systems and electronic warfare sensors as well as data net into a single 'fused picture.' If an enemy plane is 50 miles away, the pilot sees a small green square exactly where that plane is, even if it's blocked from view. Because it tracks head movement, the HUD remains visible whether the pilot is looking forward, sideways, or even down through the floor of the plane.

Part of what makes this possible is the Distributed Aperture System (DAS). It grants the ability to see through the floor with a system of six infrared cameras embedded around the fuselage of the jet at 360 degrees. When the pilot looks down, the system instantly streams the video feed from the bottom cameras to the visor. The F-35 helmet even has night vision built into the forehead camera, instantly activated with a button.

Fat Amy's cockpit, as the F-35 is endearingly dubbed, even includes a speech-recognition system that allows pilots to execute certain commands through voice, such as changing communication frequencies. All key systems and weapon controls are integrated into the control stick and engine throttle, allowing the pilot to operate the aircraft without letting go of the flight controls.

The JSF Takes Point-And-Shoot To A New Level

Raw video is only half the story. The F-35's onboard computer performs sensor fusion, which blends data from multiple sources into a single intuitive picture that no other platform can currently match. The F-35 achieves this by leveraging the Multifunction Advanced Data Link to talk to other aircraft, ground, and naval assets. If one networked unit sees a target with its radar, every other unit on the net sees that same target.

The incredible technological capability of the F-35 allows it to do things that even the F-22 cannot, as its internal systems are decades older than the newer, yet lower-performance stealth fighter. One of the major game-changing features enabled by this system is high 'off-boresight' targeting. This allows a pilot to fire a missile at a target they haven't personally detected, relying instead on the shared data from a wingman or other asset like an AWACS plane.

When the pilot of an F-35 simply looks at the target, they can designate a lock onto the weapon system by pressing the button on their control stick, even if the plane is not facing towards the threat. A supermaneuverable missile like the AIM-9X can be fired at said target even if it is initially launched in a direction away from the target. It will then make a sharp turn and pursue the target in the pilot's line of sight, regardless of where the nose is pointed.

More Than Just Flight Gear: Tailored To Every Pilot

The HMDS of the F-35 is described as a 'wearable cockpit,' and at the price of $400,000 each, it certainly deserves to be known as more than a mere helmet. Some estimates, accounting for research and international conversions, range as high as $700,000 per unit. As the first tactical fighter in 50 years to fly without a traditional fixed HUD, the F-35 projects all critical flight parameters, like airspeed, altitude, and heading, alongside targeting alerts directly onto the visor.

Each helmet is custom-fitted to the pilot of the F-35, which takes two days to complete. Technicians use a high-resolution laser scanner to create a 3D model of the pilot’s head. The scan data is sent to a CNC machine that mills a personalized Styrofoam liner. This liner ensures the helmet sits in the same position every time it is worn. The fitters use a special measuring instrument to align with the distance between the pilot’s eyes by a margin of two millimeters.

The visor is custom-contoured and trimmed so that it does not hit the oxygen mask when the pilot talks or moves. Gaining or losing as little as five or ten pounds, or even getting a significantly different haircut, can shift the helmet's position and require a refit. Pilots must undergo a fit check every 120 days to ensure the helmet remains properly calibrated.

The Story Behind The Revolutionary Cockpit

HMDS replaces the previous generation heads up display (HUD) that has been common on 4th-gen fighter jets for the past decades since it was introduced in the 1960s. HUDs evolved from reflector sights and gyro gunsights used during WWII. The first operational system appeared in 1961 on the British Blackburn Buccaneer. These systems evolved from WWII-era reflector gunsights, providing pilots with critical flight and weapon-aiming data projected onto a glass screen.

The HUD was a result of engineers trying to solve the deadly problem of 'head-down' time in dogfights. As planes got faster, looking down at a dashboard meant a pilot could travel several hundred feet while their eyes were off the target. Early HUDs utilized cathode ray tubes (CRT) to display information, evolving into more advanced holographic and digital systems.

HUDs became standard in, or were retrofitted into, aircraft like the A-7 Corsair II, F-4 Phantom II, and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the 1970s. Modern fighter HUDs are shifting away from bulky, older CRT technology toward fully digital, lightweight, and augmented reality (AR) systems. The US Air Force is currently modernizing the F-22 Raptor’s HUD with BAE Systems' Digital Light Engine. It increases reliability by 35x and provides a much sharper, brighter image for the pilot.

The F-35 system follows a modern dark cockpit philosophy, where displays remain uncluttered and only alert the pilot with messages or warnings during emergencies or when specific actions are required. The side-stick and throttle use active feedback to provide the pilot with tactile cues about the aircraft's limits and flight conditions. Its layout is optimized for rapid decision-making, even featuring a customizable seat and controls positioned for high-performance maneuvers.

America's Most Exquisite Warplane

The F-35 program is the most expensive weapon system in history, with costs spanning decades of research and development. It's estimated that the helmet system alone required an investment of between $300 and $500 million. The average cost for an F-35A is $79 million, an F-35B is $104 million, and an F-35C is $98 million. That price excludes the engine, which costs an additional $20 million.

The Department of Defense projects the total cost of the F-35 program over its 94-year lifecycle (from 1994 to 2088) to be approximately $2.1 trillion. The cost of operational sustainment and lifetime maintenance is projected to be $1.58 trillion, representing the bulk of the overall program cost. The Pentagon is aiming to achieve a cost of $25,000 per flight hour currently, which would put it below the F-15.

Lockheed Martin has even begun to propose an upgrade path that will make the jet what they call a '5th-Gen Plus' platform. The Sidekick upgrade is increasing internal missile carriage from four to six AIM-120s. New Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) technology is aimed at providing the power and cooling needed to run the intense AI and electronic warfare systems required for drone command.

How 6th-Gens Will Change Everything

The transition to the USAF's 6th-Gen platform, the NGAD or Next Generation Air Dominance, now officially dubbed the F-47, will represent an even more dramatic shift from a pilot-centric cockpit to a mission-commander workstation. These systems are designed to manage not just one aircraft, but a system of systems that includes multiple Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), or loyal wingmen drones.

The cockpit of these Advanced Jets is expected to move toward a new 'glass-less' display system where almost all the physical panels are replaced by augmented reality interfaces. Integrated AI will handle procedural tasks and sensor data processing to reduce the pilots' burden by as much as 40% in terms of mundane work.

These Jets will be optimized for Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T), where a single crewed fighter may command four to six CCAs. The pilots don't remotely fly these drones; instead, they give them mission objectives, and the onboard AI executes the necessary maneuvers to complete them. There's speculation that a two-seat variant may later be developed to significantly increase the number of remote airframes that can be coordinated at one time by a single manned stealth fighter.