So I noticed, years after Arma 3 has been out, there are still very few mods for an F-35B, and none are standalone.
I think my F-35B port is not bad at the moment, much better than when I first uploaded it and shared in the addons discussion forum, so I figured I'd make a thread in the "complete" forum, although I still plan on tweaking it.
https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1583193287
So I started with a port of the Arma 2 F-35 (ie an X-35 model), and updated it. Its got working radar/sensors, stealth properties, dynamic loadouts, partially configured hitpoints, and a pilot camera.
I've made the model more F-35 like, and less X-35 like (such as the lift fan cover, a bump on the nose for the EOTS, a sawtooth edge on the tailpipe, a changed canopy, etc).
Early version showing the sawtooth edge:
I've also given it much more capabilities than Arma 2's loadout. Maximum A2A loadout is now 6 missiles
As the AGM-88C (C!!! wtf, the E model was already around in 2018) is too big, I made a smaller and weaker ARM, the ALARM (Advanced Light Anti Radiation Missile). 2 hits are needed to disable/destroy a Tigris (in testing, the crew is able to bail before the tigris goes up in flames after the 2nd hit, and survive).
Each of the two outer pylons supports: 1x Bim-9x/1xASRAAM/1xAMRAAM D/1xALARM/1x12 DAR Pod/1x12DAGR pod
Each of the two inner pylons supports: 1-2x AMRAAM D/1x ALARM/4x SDB/4x Scapel/1x GBU-12/1x CBU-85
It has an internal 20mm gatling gun with 300 rounds
I had thought about giving it a 25mm internal gun (files for such are in game, but not well balanced)- however for a space and weight limited V/STOL model, a smaller 20mm cannon makes more sense. Also since it can fire rockets for use in CAS, a heavier hitting cannon isn't needed so much for taking out armored targets.
Therefore it gets the same 20mm cannon as the blackfoot - which should be a 3 barrel version of the good old M61 Vulcan, "the world's lightest 20 mm Gatling cannon".
Top speed is the same as the Black Wasp for now (I think I'll scale it back a little*). Radar stealth and range is the same as the black wasp. Its IR stealth is a 20% reduction in detection range (a 0.8 multiplier). Its IR sensor is the same as that found on the A-164 wipeout, except not limited to view distance settings (I don't know why they do that for vanilla assets *).
* The F-35 and the F-18 have similar top speeds, but both are significantly slower than the F-22. If the F-181 is supposed to be a F-18/F-22 hybrid, then it should be faster than the F-35
I also found the pilot view in the F-35 from Arma 2 to be too obstructive, so I changed it to improve the field of view.
(its an old pic, but the geometry is more or less the same, the default gun has changed, the CM magazine size, and the sensors as well)
Fictional lore for the F-35F in armaverse:
These pics are a little out of date (textures have been darkened, but they show the basics:
I welcome feedback.