No, The F-35B Does Not Use Afterburner In Vertical Landing Mode
Imagery of F-35Bs operating at night make it look like afterburner is used in vertical mode, but the truth is more interesting.
BY
THOMAS NEWDICK
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PUBLISHED DEC 28, 2023 1:31 PM EST
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Kyra Helwick
THOMAS NEWDICK
An F-35B stealth fighter conducting vertical or rolling vertical landings on a warship’s deck at night is a sight to behold. Perhaps the most dramatic aspect of this audio-visual spectacle is the vertical ‘pillar of thrust’ upon which the jet perches as it makes its descent onto the deck. But while it looks very much like an afterburner plume, and many on social media think that's what it is, the F-35B doesn’t actually engage this function when operating in vertical mode.
The effect, as seen in the photo at the top of this story — showing an F-35B on the U.K. Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales — is produced when a highly sensitive low-light camera picks up the very hot gas that’s pumped out of the F-35B’s rear nozzle upon landing at night.
A quick aside on afterburners to get everyone up to speed. Many high-performance military aircraft, the F-35B included, feature them. They inject fuel into a combustor in the jet pipe behind the turbine, for a significant boost in thrust when required, albeit at the cost of drastically increased fuel consumption and infrared signature.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/no-the-f-35b-does-not-use-afterburner-in-vertical-landing-mode
