Behold the most expensive weapons system ever and all of its ammunition in one photo

America's "jack of all trades" F-35s were developed to dogfight, provide close air support, execute long-range bombing attacks, and take off from and land on aircraft carriers — all while using the most advanced available stealth capabilities.

Designed and manufactured at Lockheed Martin's massive facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the F-35 Lightning II can carry an impressive 18,000 pounds of lethal ammunition.

Below is a photo of the F-35A (one of the three F-35 variants) and its weapons suite:

f35 weapons

Matt Short/Lockheed Martin

The nearly $400 billion F-35 weapons program was developed in 2001 to replace the US military's F-15, F-16, and F-18 aircraft. Since its inception, the fifth-generation stealth jet has experienced setbacks that include faulty ejection seats, software delays, helmet display issues, and an inability to dogfight.

Lockheed Martin's F-35 program includes three variants of the aircraft — the F-35A, the F-35B, and the F-35C — which are designed to meet the specific needs of America's sister service branches and numerous foreign military buyers such as the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Japan, South Korea, and Israel.

Lockheed Martin says each F-35A, also referred to as the conventional takeoff and landing, or CTOL, jet, costs $108 million (including the engine) and is the most requested of the three aircraft. About 65 of the anticipated 1,763 F-35A jets have been delivered to the Department of Defense.

The F-35 variants carry similar arsenals, though the F-35A is the only variant to feature an internal cannon, which is located on the left side of the jet between the cockpit and the wing.

Here's an infographic of the weapons the jets are designed to carry:Matt Short/Lockheed Martin

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See Also:

• This rare colorized WW2 photo of US troops takes you to the frontlines of Nazi Germany

• Here's how US fifth-generation aircraft would win in a war against China

• Marine Corps F-35s will go head-to-head with F-18s, F-22s, F-16s, and more at Red Flag