☰
MENU
×
Aircraft / Aviation
Vehicles & Artillery
Small Arms
Warships & Submarines
Military Ranks
Military Pay Chart (2024)
Special Forces
HOME
AVIATION INDEX
MODERN AIR FORCES
AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE AIRCRAFT
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT
AIRCRAFT BY TYPE
AIRCRAFT BY DECADE
MODERN AIRCRAFT
X-PLANE AIRCRAFT
Aviation / Aerospace

Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)


Technology Demonstrator [ 2000 ]



The Boeing X-32 competed - and failed - against the Lockheed submission, which went on to become the F-35.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 04/25/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

National flag graphic Top down view of the Boeing X-32 in flight
VIEW SPECIFICATIONS [+]
The Boeing X-32 was a prototype aircraft developed for the US military's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The Boeing submission faced off against the Lockheed X-35 which went on to win the lucrative defense contract, leaving the X-32 to the pages of military aviation history. The Lockheed X-35 saw further development before becoming the F-35 "Lightning II" multi-role, VTOL-capable (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft for the United States Air Force. The F-35 is expected to be formally introduced after 2016.

The Joint Strike Fighter Program was born in 1994 in an effort to streamline requirements by both the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Department of Defense (US DoD). The purpose of the program would be to develop a multi-role minded aircraft capable of short, vertical and conventional take-offs and landings and deliver advanced ordnance within cost. The aircraft would replace a slew of modern though aging types in service with the US military. Initial proposals were submitted with The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin being selected for their design concepts in 1996. The program would be government-funded to help contain project costs in the long-term and each company would be charged with producing a pair of prototypes for evaluation. The JSF winner would ultimately stock hundreds, possibly thousands of examples within the US inventory with international sales possible.

The Boeing submission was designated as the "X-32". At its core, it was a sleek design offering with sharp angles worked seamlessly into smooth contours utilizing all learned concepts of "stealth" flight and radar evasion. The cockpit was set to the front of the fuselage behind a short nose assembly. The delta-shaped wings were high-mounted and negated the use of conventional tailplanes while the empennage sported a pair of outward canted vertical tail fins. Power was supplied from a single Pratt & Whitney F119 series turbofan engine of 28,000lbs thrust capable of afterburning (43,000lbs thrust) and aspirated through a chin-mounted air-intake assembly. This intake duct system promoted a very deep fuselage appearance for the X-32, giving it its unique shape. The engine exhausted at the rear through a specially developed port intended to minimize the aircraft's radar signature. The undercarriage was of a conventional tricycle arrangement with a pair of single-wheeled main legs under each wing and a single-wheeled nose leg under the intake assembly. The pilot held a commanding view of the action around the aircraft thanks to a raised cockpit position and lightly-framed canopy design. The canopy opened by sliding rearwards.©MilitaryFactory.com
As the program was already progressing at full speed when a revised United States Navy requirement forced the Boeing team to revise the wing assemblies of their prototypes. The USN sought a revised fighter design with improved agility and broader ordnance capabilities to which Boeing engineers, much to their chagrin, obliged. The X-32 emerged with more conventional swept-back wing assemblies as well as horizontal tailplanes no installed at the rear. This design alteration would go on to prove one of the damning events for the X-32 project. The other issue lay in the Boeing team's decision to produce two separate prototypes to fulfill the conventional take-off and landing and VTOL evaluations. Lockheed, on the other hand, managed to develop a single prototype to showcase both actions which certainly helped its chances of winning.

First flight of the Boeing X-32 prototype occurred on September 18th, 2000 with a successful conventional take-off and landing. The VTOL test then followed through the second prototype on March 29th, 2001. The Pratt & Whitney engine allowed for a top speed of Mach 1.6 (1,200 miles per hour) while range was 1,574 kilometers in the X-32's conventional take-off and landing arrangement. The VTOL version - primarily for use off space-strapped carrier decks - showcased a range of 1,112 kilometers. Flight testing would end in July of 2001.

Proposed armament included an internal 20mm M61A2 series cannon. All principle ordnance would have been shielded within internal weapons bays to either side of the fuselage. This would house a possible mix of air-to-air missiles as well as the latest in guided bombs. The X-32 also could be modified to accept externally-mounted ordnance as optional (this to include plumbing for external fuel tanks increasing operational ranges). The proposed international version of the production X-32 would have featured the 27mm Mauser BK-27 series internal cannon and comparable missiles/guided bombs.

After evaluation of both systems, the Lockheed design was selected as the winner, dooming the X-32. The primary deciding factor ultimately came from Lockheed's use of a "shaft-driven" lift fan as opposed to Boeing's thrust vectoring "direct-lift" system. While more costly and unproven, the Lockheed design initiative prevailed over Boeing's "safer" endeavor. The two X-32 prototypes were then handed down to museums as showpieces while some systems devised during development for the X-32 have gone on to see implementation in Boeing's current stable of US military aircraft - proving that all was not lost.

The X-32A prototype completed 66 flights while the X-32B prototype managed 78 flights.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications



Boeing Company - USA
Manufacturer(s)
United States
Operators National flag of the United States
2000
Service Year
United States
National Origin
1
Crew
2
Units


X-PLANE
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.


45.0 ft
(13.72 meters)
Length
36.0 ft
(10.97 meters)
Width/Span
17.3 ft
(5.28 meters)
Height
37,920 lb
(17,200 kilograms)
Maximum Take-Off Weight


2 x Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engines generating up to 43,000lbs of thrust with afterburning.
Propulsion
1,243 mph
(2,000 kph | 1,080 knots)
Max Speed
50,000 ft
(15,240 m | 9 miles)
Ceiling
979 miles
(1,575 km | 850 nm)
Range


MACH Regime (Sonic)
Sub
Trans
Super
Hyper
HiHyper
ReEntry
♦
RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030


STANDARD:
1 x 20mm M61A-2 cannon OR 1 x 27mm Mauser BK-27 cannon

Mission-specific ordnance would have included any of the following:

2 OR 6 x AMRAAM air-to-air missiles held in internal bays.
2 x 2,000lb guided bombs held in internal bays in place of four AMRAAM units.

Maximum external loadout was reported to be about 15,000lbs of ordnance.


0
Hardpoints


X-32A - Initial Prototype Model
X-32B - Secondary and Final Prototype Model


Cockpit image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
Cockpit image represents the Boeing X-32 Joint Strike Fighter production model.


Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway
Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift
Military lapel ribbon for the Chaco War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War
Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War
Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for Special Forces
Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era
Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Images



1 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
Top down view of the Boeing X-32 in flight
2 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
The Boeing X-32 conducting VTOL testing
3 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
View of the Boeing X-32 open weapons bay
4 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
5 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
6 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
7 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
8 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
9 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
10 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
11 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
12 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
13 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
14 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)
15 / 15
Image of the Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter)

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.

©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)