Analysis: These Are The World’s Top 5 Air Forces Equipped With F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jets

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II can trace its origins back to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, a merger of various fighter development programs in the 1980s and 1990s. The eventual winner was Lockheed Matin’s Skunk Works X-35. The aircraft’s development was funded primarily by the United States, with additional funding from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and close American allies.