F35 nickname brainstorm

[Hyperspace Industries]

The F35 needs a nickname, lightning 2 doesn’t roll off the tongue, and it currently has two nicknames: the Panther, from the US marines, and the Fat Amy, from the navy.

I just wondered, what would we nickname it, so, what would you?

Personally, my pick is the Sniper, since it is built to see the target before it sees it, and attack from range, and not to dogfight, which is not it’s skill.

[DDE]

Do you even realize what can of worms you're opening?

[Hyperspace Industries]

25 minutes ago, DDE said:

Do you even realize what can of worms you're opening?

No sir, I do not, though I do know of the massively overbudget problem.

Maybe, hired gun would be a more appropriate nickname.

[kerbiloid]

It has a fan, and is for hits.

Fan Hitter.

[steve9728]

The original one is 'lighting', and in Chinese this word was been translate directly to '雷电'. But however, the F35 is commonly called the '肥电' (fatty lighting) in Chinese folk internet because of its relatively 'thicker' fuselage itself compared to other aircraft. Well, you know, especially the F35B

But the main point is not to ridicule its appearance, it is the design of the F35 itself that has the defect of being too heavy. In order to integrate all kinds of advanced equipment in an otherwise small body, to meet various requirements, which led to the F35's serious overweight. So guys named it '肥电'.

Edited October 16, 2022 by steve9728

[SunlitZelkova]

I see two options.

The F-105 was called the Thunderchief, which got shortened to Thud. So we could shorten Lightning to “The Lig”.

The A-10 was named the Thunderbolt II but was also called the Warthog because of how ugly it was. So we could call the Lightning “the Beemer” because of how expensive it is.

[tater]

Nicknames are not official, so the name will be what the pilots actually call it. I have seen "panther" used by AF pilots a few times, not sure if that has stuck. The official names for US aircraft are rarely used. In ww2, the USAAF pilots I talked to (I used to go to the 8th AF lunches sometimes to meet the old vets) used the number designations, not a name like "Mustang" or "Thunderbolt", they'd say P-51 and P-47 (for the latter Jug was a pilot nickname).

A friend of mine flew A-7s in the NMNG, and the official name "Corsair II" was never used, he called it a SLUF (short little ugly ...), similar to the B-52 nickname, BUFF (big ugly fat ...)

 

[Flying dutchman]

 

 

 

 

[tater]

Depends on the role. We'll see how long-lasting the F-35 ends up, but it has to be seen as part of a complete battlefield, not based on 1 v 1 gunfight training—a place where older platforms like the Viper might excel (on-topic, note that no one calls the F-16 the "Fighting Falcon", they say "Viper.").

 

[magnemoe]

On 10/16/2022 at 7:50 AM, steve9728 said:

The original one is 'lighting', and in Chinese this word was been translate directly to '雷电'. But however, the F35 is commonly called the '肥电' (fatty lighting) in Chinese folk internet because of its relatively 'thicker' fuselage itself compared to other aircraft. Well, you know, especially the F35B

But the main point is not to ridicule its appearance, it is the design of the F35 itself that has the defect of being too heavy. In order to integrate all kinds of advanced equipment in an otherwise small body, to meet various requirements, which led to the F35's serious overweight. So guys named it '肥电'.

I thought the VTOL B had the same fuselage but relapsed the gun and its magazine for the VTOL fan. 
Now an future update plan is to replace the gun and its magazine for an laser gun. So Lazerpig might be an fitting name. 

Its some pointers towards the US moving away from fighters over to larger planes who are stealthy enough to not getting targeting by lasers but having enough firepower to take out incoming missile swarms. 
With lasers dogfights are dead as you can not dodge it, now you might get something like an F-22 close enough that it could gun you down. 
However if the war in Ukraine has taught us anything its that sam's beat all, your only option might be stealth. 

[KerikBalm]

Phantom (2?)

Lime the F-4 Phantom which was a successful multi-service fighter, "phantom" also evokes the stealth factor.

But I do like "panther" too

[DDE]

On 10/16/2022 at 12:35 AM, Hyperspace Industries said:

Personally, my pick is the Sniper

As far as that goes... the only platform that was meant to use LRAAMs was the F-22, the missiles got axed, and the new developments (AIM-260, LREW) probably aren't meant for the Joint Strike Fighter either.

1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

However if the war in Ukraine has taught us anything its that sam's beat all, your only option might be stealth. 

It's taught us that if you don't hunt SAMs (and literally appoint them one-third the bounty payment of a tank, RUB 100k) the SAMs don't die and keep constraining you. But it's CAS, CAS, CAS all day long, and if you even think about SEAD, you get called a slacker...

[SunlitZelkova]

7 hours ago, KerikBalm said:

Phantom (2?)

Lime the F-4 Phantom which was a successful multi-service fighter, "phantom" also evokes the stealth factor.

But I do like "panther" too

Nope. The “Phantom” (F-4) is already the Phantom II. Here is the Phantom. It actually had its first flight during WWII!

 

So the F-35 would be the Phantom III, but given we already call the F-4 the Phantom, would could also just drop the number when referring to the F-35.

Panther is technically taken by the Navy F9F Panther, which came in straight wing and swept wing flavors and served throughout the 1950s. It is interesting that Air Force pilots would use it.

If anyone is feeling controversial, feel free to try out the original proposed names for the F-4: Satan or Mithras.

[tater]

Again, what planes were officially named doesn't matter, it's called whatever the pilots call it.

[steve9728]

6 hours ago, tater said:

Again, what planes were officially named doesn't matter, it's called whatever the pilots call it.

Don't know how American pilots call it but I'm sure that the PLAN and PLAAF's pilot will call them 'fatty lightning': this nickname in Chinese was already existing more than a decade hahaha

[tater]

3 hours ago, steve9728 said:

Don't know how American pilots call it but I'm sure that the PLAN and PLAAF's pilot will call them 'fatty lightning': this nickname in Chinese was already existing more than a decade hahaha

Having known a few fighter pilots, our fighter pilots call all non-friendly aircraft, "target."

[kerbiloid]

Not "bandit"?

(Just from the movies.)

[NFUN]

the toaster

[kerbiloid]

Why at all need a nickname when there is just "35th"?

[Codraroll]

I heard a neat analogy from the Norwegian pilots who are learning to fly the F-35. It's been a while since I read the article, but it went something like this:

"Engaging in aerial combat with an F-16 is like going into a knife duel. Hot and violent, where you look the attacker in the face, size each other up, and charge, trying to get your own blade into the opponent before he gets his into you.

Fighting against the F-35 is like going into a dark room containing a ninja wielding a baseball bat and silk slippers. You neither see nor hear him coming and you're out cold before you even realize there's a fight. Everything seems peaceful and quiet up until the point where your aircraft detects missiles behind you, and then you lose."

So "F-35 Ninja" has a nice ring to it.

[kerbiloid]

"F-16 Ninja'd"

[KerikBalm]

On 10/16/2022 at 7:50 AM, steve9728 said:

But the main point is not to ridicule its appearance, it is the design of the F35 itself that has the defect of being too heavy. In order to integrate all kinds of advanced equipment in an otherwise small body, to meet various requirements, which led to the F35's serious overweight. So guys named it '肥电'.

Its not that heavy, and its got a very good TWR. Compared to something like an F-15 or a SU-35, it is positively light.

Its profile is a bit "fatter" looking than previous aircraft, but so is something like the J-20, its the nature of aircraft that carry their weapons internally

On 10/18/2022 at 4:37 AM, SunlitZelkova said:

Nope. The “Phantom” (F-4) is already the Phantom II. Here is the Phantom. It actually had its first flight during WWII!

My bad, drop the numbers, they aren't useful. Phantom IIs are out essentially of service. There won't be any confusion.

I did check though, while development started in WW2, its first flight was 1947, not 1945

 

[steve9728]

How about some big cat or heroic figure from a Native American tribe?

[KerikBalm]

1 hour ago, steve9728 said:

How about some big cat

Like... a panther? :p

1 hour ago, steve9728 said:

or heroic figure from a Native American tribe?

Well, I don't know of many heroic figures from native American tribes. There are some famous figures, like: Geronimo, Hiawatha, Sitting Bull, Tecumseh, Pontiac...

But they don't seem like good names, and many are in fact tragic figures (not surprising given what happened to most of the Native American tribes).

And to illustrate the point re: 5th gen fighter profiles:

Spoiler

J-20

F-35

 

 

[kerbiloid]

12 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Geronimo

Owned by paratroopers.

Maybe just for the ejection system.

12 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Hiawatha

F-35 Block 5. "Long Fellow"

12 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Sitting Bull

For an airplane?

12 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Pontiac

Needs more wheels.

Upd.  

11 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

or heroic figure from a Native American tribe?

Tisquantum

Edited October 19, 2022 by kerbiloid