Forum: F-35 Lightning II

In the light of the revelations about the "e-mail" gun and the network-centric capabilities of he plane I suggest it be called
"Fighting Centrinium". Smile

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NickMchugh wrote:

I can't honestly say I like the idea of a bird name - I think they've been done to death.

Final thought: what nickname do you think the F35 will pick-up?

What about Turkey Vulture Wink

How 'bout going the bug route? Or have I sinned in the AF bible for suggesting that since the Navy's got the Super Bug Shocked

I'm sure the sea dwellers doesn't mind hehe. I was thinking F-35 Scorpion (although I believe it might've been used already, just can't recall right now) or Mantis. Or how 'bout spooky things like Ghost or Reaper. Phantom would've been nice since it's a "stealth" aircraft had it not been taken twice. And yes, I'm aware of the animosity towards joe blow jr. names so 'nuff said on that Smile

Going back to sharp utensils, has anyone mentioned Scythe yet?

I hereby redraw my suggestion of "Storm" a few pages back and would like to replace it with "Busy Bee" as it truly will be busy beeting all US inventory it is supposed to replace to any other non US hardware.

Last edited by RyanCollins on Nov 21, 2004 - 08:23 PM; edited 3 times in total

What about:
F-35 Coyote...?, it's sounds good... or the F-35 Sioux...

That, or missiles names, like Rapier, Blowpipe, Seawolf, Seacat (F-35 C)

Scorpion has been used before

Whoever said no more WWII names I agree with. I don't want to see "Airacobra II" or "Mustang II".

Having said that I will contradict myself and say that I could see it being called the "Butcher Bird", like the FW-190.

Occamsrasr wrote:

Having said that I will contradict myself and say that I could see it being called the "Butcher Bird", like the FW-190.

I have to say than Butcher Bird is a good name, but I don't think that the F-35 will have the name of a nazi plane...

Forum Veteran Joined: Aug 29, 2004 - 01:05 AM Posts: 659

How about stepping off the birds and sequels. Let's do something swimming. Given the appearance of the F-35's planform, I could live with MANTA. On one hand the shape of the F-35 looks quite rugged, on the other hand, the LO-features could have been designed by Burt Rutan, the natural technology guru. Approaching MANTA as an acronym, you would get something like Multirole Aircraft of Natural Technology Aerodynamics...

That's good, but I think they will get the F-35 a bird name...

I think that a good name is Flaming Dart... (isn't a bird name though).

A good bird name is Kestrel, I think.

Forum Veteran Joined: Aug 29, 2004 - 01:05 AM Posts: 659

OK, Kestrel I can live with, since the Harrier's ancestry and the Harrier itself being supplanted by the JSF STOVL. Laughing

I heard 'phoenix' a while ago, as someone mentioned before, and I really hate it. They'd better not go that route. The argument for it is, a) it's a bird b) "rising from the ashes" of 9/11 and c) something else i'm sure. I still really don't like it.

I saw someone mention 'Sioux' in this thread, and I love Indian (i'm sorry, Native American) Nation names given to military tech., too bad they are set aside for helo's.

I think, my preferred name for the F-35 is 'dagger'. Why? 1) Daggers are concealable (stealth), 2) Daggers are quick, precise, and lethal, 3) Daggers are multi-purpose (3 variants, plus exported versions), and 4) You can add additional names in front of 'Dagger' to signify specific purpose or nationality (i.e. Stiletto Dagger [ctol: if you pronounce ctol-etto a certain way it almost writes itself], STOVL/Short/Vertical/Thrust Dagger, CV could take derive a name from maritime life, Royal Dagger for the Brits maybe). The Brits could even do the European thing and throw on a storm name in front: Gail, Squall, etc. Or we could just keep Dagger. (Though, I think I prefer the add-on signal names)
This could be considered a bit of a 're-used' name though, as their was an F-102 Delta Dagger.

Another name, i've heard tossed around is 'Talon', which I believe has been used before, though I can't place it to an aircraft right now. Any help? Reasons, why I've heard people like this... it plays off the generic qualities of Raptor, and F-35 is a mini-Raptor, basically. (X-32 was a far better machine, imo. Which I liked the name ____ Spade for as it's shape resembled a spade, and I was calling yf-23 _____ Diamond, yay for poker.)Plus a talon has 4 claws, again - for the 3 branches of service and 4th for Britain. I don't really like it, but it's better than Phoenix.

If they were to stay within bird schemes, I like Shrike, but one of the new coastal patrol boats is using that name, so it probably wouldn't happen.

T-38 Talon Wink

Just a Question has anyting been named Kolibri before?
Love that bird Very Happy

Its like a real life speedy gonsales

How about keep with the unoffical name of the 16 (Viper) and stay snake like. Moccasin, as in Cotton Mouth the southern viper. They strike with no warning and are very deadly, you often never know they are there till they get you. The Navy would like it to because it is a water snake, the Marines will like it also because they are all over Paris Island in SC. The maintainers will call them Cotton Mouths. It fits, really folks.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

F-35 name assumptions