The Lockheed Martin F-35C that the Navy is officially planning to buy is a stealthy, single-engine strike fighter derived from the same technologies as the Air Force F-35A and Marine Corps F-35B.
The company said that the Department of Defense authorized the purchase of six F-35A aircraft for the Air Force and tentatively approved the purchase of six F-35B aircraft for the Marine Corps.
Further, Test and Evaluation officials discovered a handful of cracks on the right wing and right engine of the U.S. Air Force F-35A version, as well as multiple cracks on the bulkhead flange of the Marine short takeoff F-35B version.