Generals and Admirals from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps testified before Congress on Feb. 16 about the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, and were united in their professional opinion that with this stealth jet, the U.S. has "a war winner" on its hands and want more of this stealth fighter as soon as possible.

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The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are the three major users the F-35, which has been modified to suit the unique needs of each service. The Air Force flies the F-35A, the smallest and lightest version; the Marine Corps, the F-35B, which is a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, and the Navy the F-35C that can land on aircraft carriers.

Only some 200 of the stealth fighters have been built as of January.  The U.S. and its allies plan to buy some 3,100 F-35 over the coming years. The fighter is expected to serve with the U.S. military until 2070.

General officers of the Marine Corps and Navy said their biggest problem with the F-35 is not having enough of the fighters with their front line squadrons.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, a fierce champion of the F-35 and Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps, said the Marines need F-35s to replace their aging fleets of F-18s and Harrier jump jets, which average 22 years in service.

In 2016, Gen. Davis became the poster boy for the F-35 with a series of remarkable statements.  Speaking in July about the impending deployment of 10 F-35Bs to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan he said:

"I can't wait to get the airplane out to the Pacific. It's tailor-made for that part of the world with its fifth generation capability and its expeditionary capabilities to land on a small ship or strip, and flow back and forth between those."

Gen. Davis said the Marines' F-35s are ready for combat now if needed. He revealed the F-35s are doing a lot better in combat exercises than expected, achieving kill ratios of 24 to zero in mock aerial combats against other jets, and surviving every sort of simulated enemy attack.

"It is like watching a velociraptor going through. Everything in its path is killed," he said.

Gen. Davis said the Marines are working to ensure its small-deck carriers have enough bandwidth to take full advantage of the F-35's extensive data-gathering and sharing capabilities.

TagsLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, stealth fighter, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, Velociraptor