The U.S. Air Force’s “Frankenjet” Takes Flight

Born from the Wreckage

In a bold feat of engineering and innovation, the U.S. Air Force has officially welcomed back an unlikely warrior to the skies—a stealth fighter jet stitched together from the wreckage of two previously damaged F-35As. Nicknamed the “Frankenjet,” this recycled warplane is now fully operational and ready for duty.

The project began as an ambitious idea in late 2022. With help from the 388th Fighter Wing Maintenance Group and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the Air Force’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) set out to salvage what many had already written off: two broken, high-tech aircraft, each worth roughly $75 million.

The pieces came from two separate F-35As—AF-27 and AF-211—both of which had suffered major accidents. In 2014, AF-27 experienced a catastrophic engine failure while preparing for takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The failure ignited a massive fire that gutted the rear two-thirds of the jet. Then in 2020, AF-211’s nose landing gear collapsed during a landing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, severely damaging the front of that aircraft.

Rather than declare both planes a total loss, engineers decided to take a radical approach: remove the intact nose of AF-27 and fuse it with the undamaged rear of AF-211. While the concept of swapping major aircraft components had been theorized before, this was the first time it was actually attempted on an F-35—making it a historic first for the program.

“All of the aircraft sections can be de-mated and re-mated theoretically, but it’s just never been done before,” said Scott Taylor, lead mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin. “This is the first F-35 ‘Franken-bird’ to date. This is history.”

Over the course of two years and five months, engineers developed entirely new tools, fixtures, and techniques to make the impossible possible. The result? A combat-ready aircraft that performs like it just rolled off the production line.

In January, the Frankenjet completed its maiden voyage from Hill AFB to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Engineers pushed the plane to the edges of its performance envelope—and it passed with flying colors. By the end of March, it had returned to Hill AFB and was assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing, specifically the same unit AF-211 once belonged to.

The entire rebuild cost $11.7 million—$2.8 million less than budgeted—and delivered a staggering $63 million in savings over buying a brand-new aircraft. The project also marked a major milestone in military aircraft repair capabilities, demonstrating that even the most complex, high-tech systems can be revived with creativity and precision.

“This was an exemplary demonstration of overcoming barriers,” said Tomas Barber, an F-35 repair team engineer. “It opens a new frontier in what we can do with advanced stealth fighters.”

Today, the U.S. Air Force operates 383 F-35As, the most widely used variant of the stealth fighter. Its sister versions—the F-35B for the Marine Corps and the F-35C for the Navy—serve specialized roles in vertical takeoff and carrier-based missions, respectively. Globally, 17 allied nations are either flying or acquiring F-35s, making it one of the most in-demand fighters on the planet.

But none quite like this one.

From scrap to sky, the Frankenjet is more than a fighter—it’s a testament to ingenuity, perseverance, and the power of never giving up on a good idea.