After six months at sea, the F-35C fighters have somewhat changed their colors. Yesterday, January 31, the portal thedrive.com I drew attention to the pictures of the stealth of the US Navy on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson with "rusty" spots.
Interest in the unusual coloring of the F-35C on board the USS Carl Vinson arose after one of the aircraft was lost in the South China Sea. The description of the images published by the Pentagon's Visual Information Dissemination Service (DVIDS) indicates that all the photos were taken while the aircraft carrier was moving in the Philippine Sea in early January.
F-35C fighters aboard the USS Carl Vinson
Image source: thedrive.com
Thus, the radio-absorbing skin of aircraft has significantly changed its appearance in six months at sea. On all F-35C aircraft of the USS Carl Vinson wing, the aircraft are shown with reddish-brown spots similar to rust. The Drive points out that the aircraft body itself does not contain ferrous metals that are susceptible to rusting, while iron can be part of the radio-absorbing coating. Even in the case of corrosion, this should not significantly affect the radar visibility of fighters.
