The Story of the Soviet Jump JetsSome people may not like the F-35 Lightning II, but all in all, it’s an amazing piece of engineering. Designing a high-performance fighter is hard enough. Making that fighter disappear in radar without compromising its performance is even harder.
But the hardest of which is making the thing hover.
So hard that prior the F-35, the Harrier was the only practical jump jet there was for years. Nevertheless, the benefits and advantages of a Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) warbird cannot be denied. It looks good on paper, as jump jets could land on shorter, or unprepare