x00 USAF F-35Bs (STOVL)

This was around for almost half a year now and has been posted in at least one other thread today, but I think it deserves its own.

This is from the Aviation Week website:

The U.S. Air Force plans to buy “hundreds” of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) configuration, a key general said Sept. 13, adding further clarity to the service’s plans for the JSF variant. The specific figure remains under review, said Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff. “I can’t give you an exact number, but it’s going to be more than a handful,” Jumper said at a press briefing at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference in Washington. Current budget plans call for the Air Force to buy all 1,763 of its JSFs in the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) configuration, but Jumper and Air Force Secretary James Roche announced in February that the service would like to buy the STOVL variant as well to provide close air support, particularly for Army ground troops (DAILY, Feb. 13, Feb. 17). The Air Force has said since then that the number of STOVL JSFs it buys could result in a corresponding reduction in the number of CTOL F-35s it acquires. Roche said in May that the Air Force’s revised acquisition strategy for the Lockheed Martin JSF could be finalized by the end of the year (DAILY, May 17). Also during the press briefing, Jumper and Roche said they are becoming increasingly convinced of the need to acquire an interim long-range strike system to serve as a bridge between the current bomber force and a next-generation platform, which may not enter service for more than two decades. The Air Force asked industry for ideas on interim capabilities earlier this year and is evaluating the responses to that request for information (RFI). A bomber version of the Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor has been mentioned as one option the Air Force might pursue (DAILY, May 20, May 24).