title: Black Adam (film)

text: New Line Cinema began the development of a "Shazam!" feature film in the early 2000s, based on the DC Comics character Captain Marvel. The title came from the wizard Shazam who gives the hero his powers, with DC unable to use the title "Captain Marvel" due to legal issues. Peter Segal signed on to direct the film in April 2006, and Dwayne Johnson was approached about portraying Captain Marvel later that year. By November 2007, Johnson was also interested in the film's antagonist, Black Adam, and had received positive responses from fans about him possibly playing that character. Development on the film was placed on hold by January 2009, but had begun again by April 2014 when Warner Bros. (the parent company of New Line) and DC began planning a slate of superhero films for its shared universe, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). That August, Johnson said he was still attached to the film but had not yet decided if he would play Captain Marvel or Black Adam. A month later, Johnson announced that he would portray Black Adam.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In January 2017, Johnson met with DC's Geoff Johns to discuss the project after studio executives grew concerned that an actor of Johnson's profile was being used as a villain and supporting character in the film instead of starring in it. Following that meeting, they decided to split the project into two films: "Shazam!" (2019), starring the hero Captain Marvel, whom DC had since rebranded as Shazam; and "Black Adam", with Johnson starring as the title antihero. Johnson said the two characters would meet onscreen in the future. Johns confirmed in July that Johnson would not appear in "Shazam!", though his likeness is used in that film for a magical hologram of Black Adam conjured by the wizard Shazam.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Adam Sztykiel was hired to write the screenplay for "Black Adam" in October 2017, with Johnson set to produce the film with Dany and Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions along with Beau Flynn of FlynnPictureCo. At that time, there were plans for Johnson to first appear as Black Adam in the sequel to "Suicide Squad" (2016), which had Gavin O'Connor attached as writer and possible director. The intention was for the members of the Suicide Squad to be tracking a weapon of mass destruction which would be revealed as Black Adam in a small role for Johnson, but these plans were abandoned when O'Connor left that film in 2018. Sztykiel completed a draft of the script by April 2018, when Johnson said there was potential for filming to begin in 2019. At the end of August, Sztykiel handed in another draft and further revisions were underway. Hiram Garcia said then that giving Shazam and Black Adam their own films was allowing the best movie for each character to be developed, and he added that their depiction of Black Adam was not going to be "softened up for audiences", explaining that he is "not the boy scout superhero, he's the guy that's like, okay, you cross him? Well, I rip your head off". In December, Johnson said filming would not begin until the end of 2019 at the earliest due to his commitments to "" (2019) and "Red Notice" (2021).


title: Black Adam (film)

text: After the successful release of "Shazam!", "Black Adam" became a priority for New Line. By June 2019, Jaume Collet-Serra was in talks to direct the film after impressing Johnson as the director of "Jungle Cruise" (2021). Collet-Serra described Black Adam as the Dirty Harry of superheroes, and said the film would show a darker version of Johnson compared to the adventure comedy "Jungle Cruise". Johnson revealed in October that filming would begin in July 2020, and announced the following month that "Black Adam" was scheduled to be released on December 22, 2021. He also said Shazam would not appear in the film, but members of the Justice Society of America (JSA) would be introduced.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Johnson stated in mid-April 2020 that filming had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they were now planning to begin production in August or September of that year. By July, filming was expected to begin in early 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia, and Noah Centineo was cast as Atom Smasher. During the virtual DC FanDome event in August, Johnson revealed that the film's version of the JSA would include Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Cyclone, in addition to Atom Smasher. He explained that Hawkgirl was originally included in the team, but for a complicated reason she ultimately could not be used in the film and was replaced with Cyclone.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani had written a new draft of the script by September, when Aldis Hodge was cast as Hawkman. Collet-Serra discussed his comparisons of the character of Dirty Harry with Johnson, saying "The systems were corrupt, so you had criminals taking advantage. You needed a cop that would cut through the bullshit and basically do what needed to be done. That's very much in line with Black Adam and his way of thinking. I think that's appealing to pretty much everybody. Everybody knows how the world sometimes is not fair, and you need people that break the rules to even out the playing field." Johnson remarked that "the Black in Black Adam refers to his soul", and described his worldview as "myopic", adding that for Adam, "There's no room or space for him being wrong. There's no room or space for anyone else's opinion. There's only room and space for him to justify anything that he does because of his pain. And he pushes and pushes and pushes and does not see any other way. It's very black and white."


title: Black Adam (film)

text: The next month, Warner Bros. adjusted their upcoming release schedule due to the pandemic, leaving "Black Adam" without a release date. Later in October, Sarah Shahi joined the cast as Adrianna Tomaz. Quintessa Swindell was cast as Cyclone in December, with Marwan Kenzari joining the cast in February 2021. Filming was expected to begin that April, with the construction of the sets beginning by mid-March. Pierce Brosnan was cast as Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate at the end of March, and the film was given a new release date of July 29, 2022. In April, James Cusati-Moyer, Bodhi Sabongui, Mo Amer, and Uli Latukefu joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Latukefu previously worked with Johnson on the series "Young Rock", while Sabongui's character was described as a key role from the Black Adam comics.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Henry Cavill reprises his role as Superman from other DCEU films during the film's mid-credits scene; this marks his first time shooting material as the character since "Justice League" (2017). Johnson stated that Seven Bucks Productions, including himself, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, played an integral role in the re-negotiations between Warner Bros. and Cavill. Johnson originally pitched the idea for Cavill to reprise his role to DC Films president Walter Hamada, who rejected the idea due to his plans for different Superman projects.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Principal photography began on April 10, 2021, at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Lawrence Sher serving as cinematographer after previously shooting DC's "Joker" (2019). Filming was delayed from an initial July 2020 start due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson said on June 20, 2021, that there were three weeks left of filming, and on July 15 he announced that he had completed his scenes. Filming then continued without Johnson for several weeks, with the production moving to Los Angeles, and had wrapped by August 15.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: The mid-credits scene was filmed in parts, with Johnson filming it at the end of a day of reshoots and additional photography. The next part was filmed using a body double, without showing the actor's face. Sher said this version of the scene was included in test screening, to positive reactions, prompting a renewed push to include Cavill. Johnson approached Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairmen Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who approved the idea. The final version of the scene was shot remotely in London in September 2022, a month before the film's premiere.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Bill Westenhofer serves as the visual effects supervisor for the film, after doing so for the DCEU film "Wonder Woman" (2017), while John Lee and Michael L. Sale are the editors. Visual effects vendors included Weta FX, UPP, Scanline VFX, Digital Domain, DNEG, Rodeo VFX, Lola VFX, Cantina Creative, Tippett Studio, and EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In March 2022, Warner Bros. adjusted its release schedule due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the workload of visual effects vendors. "Black Adam" was pushed back to October 21, 2022, with "The Flash" and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" moved from late 2022 into 2023 to allow time for their visual effects work to be completed. The delay for "Black Adam" was also reportedly due to reshoots that were scheduled for February 2022 having to be postponed because most of the studio space at Trilith was being taken up by production on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023). Once shooting for that film ended, reshoots for "Black Adam" began in early May, and had concluded early the next month. Collet-Serra confirmed that work on the film had been completed with a picture lock being achieved by July 2022.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Final writing credits were given to Sztykiel, Haines, and Noshirvani, while an additional literary material credit was attributed to David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick who scribed DC's "Aquaman" (2018). In October 2022, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Holland were revealed to be reprising their respective DCEU roles as Shazam and Emilia Harcourt, the former from "Shazam!" (2019), and the latter from "The Suicide Squad" (2021) and the first season of "Peacemaker". The film initially received an R rating due to several gruesome death scenes and many cuts had to be made to the film to receive the lower PG-13 rating.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In July 2022, it was announced that Lorne Balfe, who previously wrote additional music for DC's "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and composed the music for "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017), would compose the score for the film. Black Adam and the Justice Society's themes were released by WaterTower Music as singles on September 30 and October 5, respectively, and the full soundtrack was released on October 21. A rendition of John Williams' "Superman" (1978) theme is played during the mid-credits scene, which Cavill said was selected over Hans Zimmer's "Man of Steel" (2013) theme because it was more recognizable to audiences.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Johnson promoted the film at the virtual DC FanDome event in August 2020, revealing concept art and narrating an animated teaser for the film as well as announcing which members of the JSA would be appearing. The film's new July 2022 release date was announced on March 28, 2021, with another teaser narrated by Johnson that was aired ahead of an NCAA Basketball Regional semifinal game and also announced during a "takeover" of New York's Times Square. Carly Lane at "Collider" described the Times Square event as thrilling, while "CNET" Mark Serrels said "booming it over a giant speaker in Times Square" was a "very cool way to announce a movie's release date". The film was promoted at the 2021 DC FanDome in October, with Johnson revealing an opening scene for the film introducing himself as Black Adam. Tom Reimann of "Collider" was excited to finally see footage from the film after its long development history, and said "looks like Dwayne Johnson in a superhero movie, which is to say it looks awesome". Both "TheWrap" Ross A. Lincoln and "The A.V. Club" William Hughes highlighted the short scene's violence, while Matt Patches at "Polygon" compared the footage's tone to the "Mummy" franchise.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In February 2022, more footage from the film was released as part of a showreel for Warner Bros.' 2022 slate of DC films, which also included "The Batman", "The Flash", and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" (before the last two were delayed to 2023 in March). Johnson, Centineo, and Swindell promoted the film at Warner Bros.' CinemaCon panel in April 2022, where a teaser trailer was launched. The first official trailer was released on June 8, featuring an orchestral remix of Kanye West and Jay-Z's song "Murder to Excellence" (2011). Jennifer Bisset at "CNET" wrote that the trailer posed Black Adam as a character who "must choose between being a hero or villain -- and it looks like he takes the darker path, judging by his take on the question of whether heroes kill people". Both Maggie Lovvit from "Collider" and Charles Pulliam-Moore from "The Verge" also noted Adam's brutality in the trailer. Pulliam-Moore felt that the death of Adam's son "radicalizes him and emboldens him to use his newfound powers to seek a kind of justice so brutal that those around him are forced to lock him away". Lovvit opined that Adam's morality exists "within the grey area between black and white" and was excited at seeing the character's future in the DCEU. Writing for "IGN", Rosie Knight also felt that it showed Adam's "tragic" backstory, speculating that it could take inspiration from the New 52 iteration of the character, and that it would determine his future actions. Collet-Serra and the cast promoted the film in the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con and revealed exclusive footage for the film. Scottie Andrew of "CNN" compared the footage to that of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" (2023), calling it "somehow even moodier". Charles Pulliam-More from "The Verge" felt the footage depicted Adam as a villain rather than an antihero, noting how the Justice Society of America (JSA) "seem much more keen on stopping him than trying to recruit him to their ranks." Similarly, Pete Volk of "Polygon" also highlighted Adam's confrontation with the JSA. Germain Lussier of "Gizmodo" praised the action sequences in the trailer, calling it an "action-packed little sizzle".


title: Black Adam (film)

text: DC Comics published a series of one-shots focusing on each member of the JSA, titled "Black Adam – The Justice Society Files", beginning on July 5 and concluding on October 4. Each issue also features a variant cover of the JSA members as they are depicted in the film. The film partnered with ZOA Energy Drinks for an exclusive edition at the 2022 SDCC.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: "Black Adam" had its world premiere in Mexico City on October 3, 2022, and had screenings in New York City, Toronto, London, Atlanta, Miami, Madrid and Los Angeles between October 12 and 20, before being theatrically released in the United States on October 21, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the last DC Extended Universe film to use the DC Films name, as the studio was rebranded as DC Studios in November 2022. It was originally set for release on December 22, 2021, but was moved from that date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then given a July 29, 2022, release date, but was moved to the October 2022 date when Warner Bros. adjusted its release schedule due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the workload of visual effects vendors.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: The film was released for VOD platforms on November 22, 2022 and on HBO Max on December 16. It ranked first on iTunes for its first two weeks of release, and on Google Play and Vudu for the first four weeks. It also debuted at the first position on Redbox's digital charts. The DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD release is meanwhile set for January 3, 2023. The premium version of the VOD release, along with the 4K UHD and the Blu-ray combo packs, includes ten special features.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: , "Black Adam" has grossed $167.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $223.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $391.1 million.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Black Adam" was released alongside "Ticket to Paradise", and was projected to earn $58–68 million from 4,402 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $26.7 million on its first day, including $7.6 million from Thursday night previews, besting the opening day of "Shazam!" ($20.4 million). It went on to gross $67 million during the opening weekend, the highest of Johnson's leading career, while also ranking first at the box office. This was also the fifth-highest October opening weekend ever for a film. In its sophomore weekend, the film dropped 59% to $27.5 million, remaining in the first position. During the third weekend, the film grossed $18.3 million for a drop of 33%. In the fourth weekend, it earned $8.1 million for a drop of 56%, while being displaced from the first position by "".


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Outside the United States and Canada, "Black Adam" earned $75.9 million from 76 countries over its first five days of release. It had the third-highest opening for a Warner Bros. title in Latin America during the pandemic era. In Malaysia ($2.2 million), Indonesia ($2.9 million), and the Philippines ($1 million), it had the highest opening for a Warner Bros. title during the pandemic. Taiwan ($2 million) had the biggest opening for a Warner Bros. film in 2022 and the second-biggest of Johnson's leading career. In Brazil ($4.9 million), it had the second-biggest opening for a Warner Bros. film during the pandemic, while also going on to generate the fifth-biggest opening ever for a Warner Bros. title in India ($3.5 million). In the second weekend it earned $39 million for a drop of 45%, while in the third weekend it grossed $26.2 million for a drop of 34%. In the fourth weekend it grossed $9.3 million for a drop of 63%. In Japan it opened to a $1.2 million weekend.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Several publications described the film as a box office bomb, with "The Hollywood Reporter" stating that the film "will be lucky to break even, even considering ancillary revenue." "Variety" estimated that it would lose $50–100 million against a break-even point of $600 million, however Warner Bros. contradicted the claim, stating that the initial break even cost was $450 million, but that figure had come down due to the growth of ancillary revenue streams and the marketing cost being low. "Deadline Hollywood" estimated that the film would ultimately turn a profit of $52–72 million due to a smaller estimated marketing budget of $80–100 million (thanks in part to Johnson's social media accounts handling large amounts of the marketing), increase in ancillary revenues from PVOD and streaming, and no one receiving any share from the box office gross. A later report by "Puck" stated that several Warner executives suspect Johnson and his team of leaking a purported financial sheet to "Deadline Hollywood" which contained inaccurate figures, including the marketing budget, exaggerated home entertainment revenue, and an inaccurate interest rate for the film.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Rotten Tomatoes and "Deseret News" called film reviews mixed, while "Variety", "Yahoo! News" and "Common Sense Media" stated the film received negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 39% based on 282 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: ""Black Adam" may end up pointing the way to an exciting future for DC films, but as a standalone experience, it's a wildly uneven letdown." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore during the opening weekend, gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 4 out of 5 stars.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Katie Walsh of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote "The director does heroic work crafting a film around Johnson that is fast and entertaining." Writing for "Consequence", Liz Shannon Miller gave the film a B grade and said: "On its own merits, "Black Adam" might feel a little thin in terms of story, but it does deliver plenty of enjoyable moments and a solid ensemble to back up Johnson. But perhaps the most exciting aspect of it is how it might shake up the rest of the franchise going forward." Helen O'Hara of "Empire" rated it 3 out of 5 and wrote that the film attempts "to offer a grand unified theory of DC, mixing family-film tropes with a protagonist who straight-up murders people. The result is sometimes a mess, but it's a generally entertaining one." Todd McCarthy of "Deadline Hollywood" praised Johnson's performance and the action scenes, writing: "The visual spectacle just keeps coming at you for two hours, and the effects are all so stupendous that you could begin to take it for granted. Practically every shot features something epic or at least unusual going on and director Jaume Collet-Serra, who guided Johnson's [2021] hit "Jungle Cruise", takes good care to present the star in the most favorable dramatic light."


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Maya Phillips of "The New York Times" was more critical in her review, calling the film "a dull, listless superhero movie that hits all the expected touchstones of the genre under the guise of a transgressive new antihero story." Rachel LaBonte of "Screen Rant" gave the film a 2.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Though suffering from repetitive plot beats and thin characters, "Black Adam" is powered by Johnson's performance and its promise of an exciting future." "TheWrap"s Alonso Duralde called the film a "muddled, overstuffed origin story" and wrote: "Most disappointing of all, "Black Adam" is one of the most visually confounding of the major-studio superhero sagas, between CG that’s assaultively unappealing and rapid-fire editing that sucks the exhilaration right out of every fight scene."


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In February 2015, Johnson told "Total Film" that Black Adam would fight Superman or Batman in the future. In April 2017, he stated that DC Films plans on Black Adam and Shazam appearing in a future film together. Henry Cavill, who portrays Superman in the DCEU, said in April 2018 that there were plans for Johnson's Black Adam to face off against Superman in the future, though he believed this will take place after Black Adam and Shazam collide.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Dany Garcia stated in May 2021 that Johnson and the other producers planned to make multiple Black Adam films during their "long-term relationship with DC", and Hiram Garcia reiterated in July that there was potential for Cavill and Johnson to appear in a future project together as Superman and Black Adam. That November, Hiram elaborated that they already had an outline for future films and spin-offs featuring Black Adam and the JSA that would be dependent on the first film being a success; and added later that other characters beyond Shazam and Superman were being considered as potential future rivals for Black Adam such as Wonder Woman.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: In October 2022, Johnson confirmed plans for Black Adam to fight Superman in the DCEU, and reaffirmed plans for the character to crossover with Shazam. In a separate interview, Johnson stated that the character will interact with various characters within the DCEU continuity, while there are also options for iterations of characters that exist in their separate universes (namely "The Batman" and "Joker") to crossover through a multiversal scenario. Furthermore, he stated that "Black Adam" serves as the first film in Phase One of a new storytelling initiative in the DCEU. Johnson also confirmed that despite the events of the film, Doctor Fate will return in the future of the franchise.


title: Black Adam (film)

text: Producers Hiram Garcia and Beau Flynn later confirmed to ComicBook.com that a sequel was planned and stated that it is intended to be fast-tracked into production. Garcia added that it would serve as a buildup to the eventual duel between Superman and Black Adam. Cavill himself confirmed his resumed involvement in the DCEU as a whole on October 24, stating that his mid-credits cameo appearance in "Black Adam" was "just a very small taste of things to come". "The Hollywood Reporter" later reported that a sequel to "Black Adam" was unlikely due to the film's failure to break even at the box office. In December 2022, producer and financier Joe Singer stated otherwise and believed the film would turn a profit through PVOD and home media sales, furthermore stating that WBD was still in talks for a sequel. Later that month, Cavill announced that he would no longer play Superman.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (including one unbeaten title), a record 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, 16 FA Community Shields, one European Cup Winners' Cup, and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In terms of trophies won, it is the third-most successful club in English football.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal was the first club from the South of England to join the Football League in 1893, and they reached the First Division in 1904. Relegated only once, in 1913, they continue the longest streak in the top division, and have won the second-most top-flight matches in English football history. In the 1930s, Arsenal won five League Championships and two FA Cups, and another FA Cup and two Championships after the war. In 1970–71, they won their first League and FA Cup Double. Between 1989 and 2005, they won five League titles and five FA Cups, including two more Doubles. They completed the 20th century with the highest average league position. Between 1998 and 2017, Arsenal qualified for the UEFA Champions League for 19 straight seasons.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Herbert Chapman, who changed the fortunes of Arsenal forever, won the club its first silverware, and his legacy led the club to dominate the 1930s decade; Chapman, however, died of pneumonia in 1934, aged 55. He helped introduce the WM formation, floodlights, and shirt numbers; he also added the white sleeves and brighter red to the club's jersey. Arsène Wenger is the longest-serving manager and won the most trophies. He won a record seven FA Cups, and his title-winning team set an English record for the longest top-flight unbeaten league run at 49 games between 2003 and 2004, receiving the nickname The Invincibles.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1886, munitions workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich founded the club as Dial Square. In 1913 the club crossed the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, becoming close neighbours of Tottenham Hotspur, and creating the North London derby. In 2006, they moved to the nearby Emirates Stadium. With an annual revenue of £340.3m in the 2019–20 season, Arsenal was estimated to be worth US$2.68 billion by "Forbes", making it the world's eighth most valuable club, while it is one of the most followed on social media. The motto of the club has long been "Victoria Concordia Crescit", Latin for "Victory Through Harmony".


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In October 1886, Scotsman David Danskin and fifteen fellow munitions workers in Woolwich formed Dial Square Football Club, named after a workshop at the heart of the Royal Arsenal complex. Each member contributed sixpence and Danskin also added three shillings to help form the club. Dial Square played their first match on 11 December 1886 against Eastern Wanderers and won 6–0. The club renamed to Royal Arsenal a month later, and its first home was Plumstead Common, though they spent most of their time playing at the Manor Ground. Their first trophies were the Kent Senior Cup and London Charity Cup in 1889–90 and the London Senior Cup in 1890–91; these were the only county association trophies Arsenal won during their time in South East London. In 1891, Royal Arsenal became the first London club to turn professional.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Royal Arsenal renamed for a second time upon becoming a limited liability company in 1893. They registered their new name, Woolwich Arsenal, with The Football League when the club ascended later that year. Woolwich Arsenal was the first southern member of The Football League, starting out in the Second Division and reaching the First Division in 1904. Falling attendances, due to financial difficulties among the munitions workers and the arrival of more accessible football clubs elsewhere in the city, led the club close to bankruptcy by 1910. Businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall became involved in the club, and sought to move them elsewhere.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, the club moved across the river to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In 1919, The Football League controversially voted to promote The Arsenal, instead of relegated local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, into the newly enlarged First Division, despite only finishing fifth in the Second Division's last pre-war season of 1914–15. Later that year, The Arsenal started dropping "The" in official documents, gradually shifting its name for the final time towards Arsenal, as it is generally known today.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: With a new home and First Division football, attendances were more than double those at the Manor Ground, and Arsenal's budget grew rapidly. Their location and record-breaking salary offer lured star Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman in 1925. Over the next five years, Chapman built a new Arsenal. He appointed an enduring new trainer Tom Whittaker, implemented Charlie Buchan's new twist on the nascent WM formation, captured young players like Cliff Bastin and Eddie Hapgood, and lavished Highbury's income on stars like David Jack and Alex James. With record-breaking spending and gate receipts, Arsenal quickly became known as the Bank of England club.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Transformed, Chapman's Arsenal claimed their first national trophy, the FA Cup in 1930, and League Championships followed in 1930–31 and 1932–33. Chapman also presided over off the pitch changes: white sleeves and shirt numbers were added to the kit; a Tube station was named after the club; and the first of two opulent, Art Deco stands was completed, with some of the first floodlights in English football. Suddenly, in the middle of the 1933–34 season, Chapman died of pneumonia. His work was left to Joe Shaw and George Allison, who saw out a hat-trick with the 1933–34 and 1934–35 titles, and then won the 1936 FA Cup and 1937–38 title.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: World War II meant The Football League was suspended for seven years, but Arsenal returned to win it in the second post-war season, 1947–48. This was Tom Whittaker's first season as manager, after his promotion to succeed Allison, and the club had equalled the champions of England record. They won a third FA Cup in 1950, and then won a record-breaking seventh championship in 1952–53. However, the war had taken its toll on Arsenal. The club had had more players killed than any top flight club, and debt from reconstructing the North Bank Stand bled Arsenal's resources.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal were not to win the League or the FA Cup for another 18 years. The '53 Champions squad had aged, and the club failed to attract strong enough replacements. Although Arsenal were competitive during these years, their fortunes had waned; the club spent most of the 1950s and 1960s in mid-table mediocrity. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal tentatively appointed club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as acting manager in 1966. With new assistant Don Howe and new players such as Bob McNab and George Graham, Mee led Arsenal to their first League Cup finals, in 1967–68 and 1968–69. Next season saw a breakthrough, with Arsenal's first competitive European trophy, the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The season after, Arsenal achieved an even greater triumph with their first League and FA Cup double, and a new champions of England record. This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the rest of the decade was characterised by a series of near misses, with Arsenal finishing as FA Cup runners up in 1972, and First Division runners-up in 1972–73.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Former player Terry Neill succeeded Mee in 1976. At the age of 34, he became the youngest Arsenal manager to date. With new signings like Malcolm Macdonald and Pat Jennings, and a crop of talent in the side like Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton, the club reached a trio of FA Cup finals (1978 FA Cup, 1979 FA Cup and 1980 FA Cup), and lost the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup Final on penalties. The club's only trophy during this time was the 1979 FA Cup, achieved with a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United, in a final is widely regarded as a classic.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: One of Mee's double winners, George Graham, returned as manager in 1986, with Arsenal winning their first League Cup in 1987, Graham's first season in charge. New signings Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Steve Bould had joined the club by 1988 to complete the "famous Back Four", led by homegrown player Tony Adams. They immediately won the 1988 Football League Centenary Trophy, and followed it with the 1988–89 Football League title, snatched with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Graham's Arsenal won another title in 1990–91, losing only one match, won the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. Graham's reputation was tarnished when he was found to have taken kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players, and he was dismissed in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute with the board of directors.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The club metamorphosed during the tenure of French manager Arsène Wenger, who was appointed in 1996. Attacking football, an overhaul of dietary and fitness practices, and efficiency with money


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: have defined his reign. Accumulating key players from Wenger's homeland, such as Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Arsenal won a second League and Cup double in 1997–98 and a third in 2001–02. In addition, the club reached the final of the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, were victorious in the 2003 and 2005 FA Cup finals, and won the Premier League in 2003–04 without losing a single match, an achievement which earned the side the nickname "The Invincibles". This feat came within a run of 49 league matches unbeaten from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004, a national record.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's first nine seasons at the club, although they never won the title in two consecutive seasons.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The club had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League until 2005–06; in that season they became the first club from London to reach the final in the competition's fifty-year history, but were beaten 2–1 by Barcelona. In July 2006, they moved into the Emirates Stadium, after 93 years at Highbury.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal reached the final of the 2007 and 2011 League Cups, losing 2–1 to Chelsea and Birmingham City respectively. The club had not gained a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup until, spearheaded by club record acquisition Mesut Özil, Arsenal beat Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup Final, coming back from a 2–0 deficit to win the match 3–2.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: A year later, Arsenal completed another victorious FA Cup campaign, and became the most successful club in the tournament's history by winning their 13th FA Cup in 2016–17. However, in that same season, Arsenal finished fifth in the league, the first time they had finished outside the top four since before Wenger arrived in 1996. After another unspectacular league season the following year, Wenger departed Arsenal on 13 May 2018.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: After conducting an overhaul in the club's operating model to coincide with Wenger's departure, Basque-Spaniard Unai Emery was named as the club's new head coach on 23 May 2018. He became the club's first ever 'head coach' and second manager from outside the United Kingdom. In Emery's first season, Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and as runner-up in the Europa League. On 29 November 2019, Emery was dismissed as manager and former player and assistant first team coach Freddie Ljungberg was appointed as interim head coach.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: On 20 December 2019, Arsenal appointed former club captain Mikel Arteta as the new head coach. Arsenal finished the league season in eighth, their lowest finish since 1994–95, but beat Chelsea 2–1 to earn a record-extending 14th FA Cup win. After the season, Arteta's title was changed from head coach to manager. On 18 April 2021, Arsenal were announced as a founding club of the breakaway European competition The Super League; they withdrew from the competition two days later amid near-universal condemnation. Arsenal finished the season in eighth place once again, not qualifying for a European competition for the first time in 26 years.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Unveiled in 1888, Royal Arsenal's first crest featured three cannons viewed from above, pointing northwards, similar to the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich (nowadays transferred to the coat of arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich). These can sometimes be mistaken for chimneys, but the presence of a carved lion's head and a cascabel on each are clear indicators that they are cannons. This was dropped after the move to Highbury in 1913, only to be reinstated in 1922, when the club adopted a crest featuring a single cannon, pointing eastwards, with the club's nickname, "The Gunners", inscribed alongside it; this crest only lasted until 1925, when the cannon was reversed to point westward and its barrel slimmed down.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1949, the club unveiled a modernised crest featuring the same style of cannon below the club's name, set in blackletter typography, and above the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington and a scroll inscribed with the club's newly adopted Latin motto, "Victoria Concordia Crescit" – "victory comes from harmony" – coined by the club's programme editor Harry Homer. For the first time, the crest was rendered in colour, which varied slightly over the crest's lifespan, finally becoming red, gold and green. Because of the numerous revisions of the crest, Arsenal were unable to copyright it. Although the club had managed to register the crest as a trademark, and had fought (and eventually won) a long legal battle with a local street trader who sold "unofficial" Arsenal merchandise,


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal eventually sought a more comprehensive legal protection. Therefore, in 2002 they introduced a new crest featuring more modern curved lines and a simplified style, which was copyrightable.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The cannon once again faces east and the club's name is written in a sans-serif typeface above the cannon. Green was replaced by dark blue. The new crest was criticised by some supporters; the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association claimed that the club had ignored much of Arsenal's history and tradition with such a radical modern design, and that fans had not been properly consulted on the issue.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Until the 1960s, a badge was worn on the playing shirt only for high-profile matches such as FA Cup finals, usually in the form of a monogram of the club's initials in red on a white background.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The monogram theme was developed into an Art Deco-style badge on which the letters A and C framed a football rather than the letter F, the whole set within a hexagonal border. This early example of a corporate logo, introduced as part of Herbert Chapman's rebranding of the club in the 1930s, was used not only on Cup Final shirts but as a design feature throughout Highbury Stadium, including above the main entrance and inlaid in the floors.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: From 1967, a white cannon was regularly worn on the shirts, until replaced by the club crest, sometimes with the addition of the nickname "The Gunners", in the 1990s.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In the 2011–12 season, Arsenal celebrated their 125th anniversary. The celebrations included a modified version of the current crest worn on their jerseys for the season. The crest was all white, surrounded by 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to the left. The oak leaves represent the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub. The 15 laurel leaves represent the design detail on the six pence pieces paid by the founding fathers to establish the club. The laurel leaves also represent strength. To complete the crest, 1886 and 2011 are shown on either sides of the motto "Forward" at the bottom of the crest.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: For much of Arsenal's history, their home colours have been bright red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts, though this has not always been the case. The choice of red is in recognition of a charitable donation from Nottingham Forest, soon after Arsenal's foundation in 1886. Two of Dial Square's founding members, Fred Beardsley and Morris Bates, were former Forest players who had moved to Woolwich for work. As they put together the first team in the area, no kit could be found, so Beardsley and Bates wrote home for help and received a set of kit and a ball. The shirt was redcurrant, a dark shade of red, and was worn with white shorts and socks with blue and white hoops.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1933, Herbert Chapman, wanting his players to be more distinctly dressed, updated the kit, adding white sleeves and changing the shade to a brighter pillar box red. Two possibilities have been suggested for the origin of the white sleeves. One story reports that Chapman noticed a supporter in the stands wearing a red sleeveless sweater over a white shirt; another was that he was inspired by a similar outfit worn by the cartoonist Tom Webster, with whom Chapman played golf.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Regardless of which story is true, the red and white shirts have come to define Arsenal and the team have worn the combination ever since, aside from two seasons. The first was 1966–67, when Arsenal wore all-red shirts; this proved unpopular and the white sleeves returned the following season. The second was 2005–06, the last season that Arsenal played at Highbury, when the team wore commemorative redcurrant shirts similar to those worn in 1913, their first season in the stadium; the club reverted to their normal colours at the start of the next season. In the 2008–09 season, Arsenal replaced the traditional all-white sleeves with red sleeves with a broad white stripe.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's home colours have been the inspiration for at least three other clubs. In 1909, Sparta Prague adopted a dark red kit like the one Arsenal wore at the time; in 1938, Hibernian adopted the design of the Arsenal shirt sleeves in their own green and white strip.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1941, Luis Robledo, an England-schooled founder of Santa Fe and a fan of Arsenal, selected the main colors for his newly created team. In 1920, Sporting Clube de Braga's manager returned from a game at Highbury and changed his team's green kit to a duplicate of Arsenal's red with white sleeves and shorts, giving rise to the team's nickname of "Os Arsenalistas".


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: For many years Arsenal's away colours were white or navy blue. However, in 1968 the FA banned navy shirts (they looked too similar to referees' black kit) so in the 1969–70 season, Arsenal introduced an away kit of yellow shirts with blue shorts. This kit was worn in the 1971 FA Cup Final as Arsenal beat Liverpool to secure the double for the first time in their history. The yellow and blue strip became almost as famous as their iconic red and white home kit. Arsenal reached the FA Cup final again the following year wearing the red and white home strip and were beaten by Leeds United. Arsenal then competed in three consecutive FA Cup finals between 1978 and 1980 wearing their "lucky" yellow and blue strip, which remained the club's away strip until the release of a green and navy away kit in 1982–83. The following season, Arsenal returned to the yellow and blue scheme, albeit with a darker shade of blue than before.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: When Nike took over from Adidas as Arsenal's kit provider in 1994, Arsenal's away colours were again changed to two-tone blue shirts and shorts. Since the advent of the lucrative replica kit market, the away kits have been changed regularly, with Arsenal usually releasing both away and third choice kits. During this period the designs have been either all blue designs, or variations on the traditional yellow and blue, such as the metallic gold and navy strip used in the 2001–02 season, the yellow and dark grey used from 2005 to 2007, and the yellow and maroon of 2010 to 2013.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Until 2014, the away kit was changed every season, and the outgoing away kit became the third-choice kit if a new home kit was being introduced in the same year.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Since Puma began manufacturing Arsenal's kits in 2014, new home, away and third kits were released every single season. In the 2017–18 season, Puma released a new color scheme for the away and third kits. The away kit was a light blue, which fades to a darker blue near the bottom, while the third kit was black with red highlight. Puma returned to the original color scheme for the 2018–19 season.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: From the 2019–20 season Arsenal's kits are manufactured by Adidas. In the 2020–21 season, Adidas unveiled the new away kit to


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: mark the 15-year anniversary since leaving Highbury. The new away kit is white, with a marbled pattern all across to replicate the iconic marble hall in the East stand of Highbury.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Before joining the Football League, Arsenal played briefly on Plumstead Common, then at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, then spent three years between 1890 and 1893 at the nearby Invicta Ground. Upon joining the Football League in 1893, the club returned to the Manor Ground and installed stands and terracing, upgrading it from just a field. Arsenal continued to play their home games there for the next twenty years (with two exceptions in the 1894–95 season), until the move to north London in 1913.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Widely referred to as Highbury, Arsenal Stadium was the club's home from September 1913 until May 2006. The original stadium was designed by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, and had a design common to many football grounds in the UK at the time, with a single covered stand and three open-air banks of terracing. The entire stadium was given a massive overhaul in the 1930s: new Art Deco West and East stands were constructed, opening in 1932 and 1936 respectively, and a roof was added to the North Bank terrace, which was bombed during the Second World War and not restored until 1954.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Highbury could hold more than 60,000 spectators at its peak, and had a capacity of 57,000 until the early 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations obliged Arsenal to convert Highbury to an all-seater stadium in time for the 1993–94 season, thus reducing the capacity to 38,419 seated spectators.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: This capacity had to be reduced further during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising boards, so much so that for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000, Arsenal played Champions League home matches at Wembley, which could house more than 70,000 spectators.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Expansion of Highbury was restricted because the East Stand had been designated as a Grade II listed building and the other three stands were close to residential properties. These limitations prevented the club from maximising matchday revenue during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, putting them in danger of being left behind in the football boom of that time.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: After considering various options, in 2000 Arsenal proposed building a new 60,361-capacity stadium at Ashburton Grove, since named the Emirates Stadium, about 500 metres south-west of Highbury.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The stadium was named after its sponsors, the airline company Emirates, with whom the club signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football history, worth around £100 million.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Some fans referred to the ground as Ashburton Grove, or the Grove, as they did not agree with corporate sponsorship of stadium names.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The stadium will be officially known as Emirates Stadium until at least 2028, and the airline will be the club's shirt sponsor until at least 2024. From the start of the 2010–11 season on, the stands of the stadium have been officially known as North Bank, East Stand, West Stand and Clock end.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's players train at the Shenley Training Centre in Hertfordshire, a purpose-built facility which opened in 1999.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Before that the club used facilities on a nearby site owned by the University College of London Students' Union. Until 1961 they had trained at Highbury.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's Academy under-18 teams play their home matches at Shenley, while the reserves play their games at Meadow Park, which is also the home of Boreham Wood F.C. Both the Academy under-18 & the reserves occasionally play their big games at the Emirates in front of a crowd reduced to only the lower west stand.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's fanbase are referred to as "Gooners" – the name derived from the club's nickname "The Gunners". Virtually all home matches sell out; in 2007–08 Arsenal had the second-highest average League attendance for an English club (60,070, which was 99.5% of available capacity), and, as of 2015, the third-highest all-time average attendance. Arsenal have the seventh highest average attendance of European football clubs only behind Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Schalke. The club's location, adjoining wealthy areas such as Canonbury and Barnsbury, mixed areas such as Islington, Holloway, Highbury, and the adjacent London Borough of Camden, and largely working-class areas such as Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington, has meant that Arsenal's supporters have come from a variety of social classes. Much of the Afro-Caribbean support comes from the neighbouring London Borough of Hackney and a large portion of the South Asian Arsenal supporters commute to the stadium from Wembley Park, North West of the capital. There was also traditionally a large Irish community that followed Arsenal, with the nearby Archway area having a particularly large community, but Irish migration to North London is much lower than in the 1960s or 1970s.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Arsenal Football Supporters' Club, which works closely with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association, which maintains a more independent line. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust promotes greater participation in ownership of the club by fans. The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as "The Gooner", "Gunflash" and the satirical "Up The Arse!". In addition to the usual English football chants, supporters sing "One-Nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of "Go West").


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: There have always been Arsenal supporters outside London, and since the advent of satellite television, a supporter's attachment to a football club has become less dependent on geography. Consequently, Arsenal have a significant number of fans from beyond London and all over the world; in 2007, 24 UK, 37 Irish and 49 other overseas supporters clubs were affiliated with the club. A 2011 report by SPORT+MARKT estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 113 million. The club's social media activity was the fifth highest in world football during the 2014–15 season.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur; matches between the two are referred to as the North London derby. Other rivalries within London include those with Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham United. In addition, Arsenal and Manchester United developed a strong on-pitch rivalry in the late 1980s, which intensified in the early 2000s when both clubs were competing for the Premier League title.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The club mascot is Gunnersaurus Rex, a smiling, 7-foot-tall green dinosaur, who first appeared at a home match against Manchester City in August 1994 (or 1993). He is based on a drawing by then 11-year-old Peter Lovell, whose design and another similar idea won a Junior Gunners contest; his official back story is that he hatched from an egg found during renovations at Highbury.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The same person, Jerry Quy, has been inside the suit from the start; in early October 2020, as part of cost-cutting brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the club made him redundant from that and his other part-time job in supporter liaison, together with 55 full-time employees, although they later said Gunnersaurus could return after spectators were allowed back in stadiums. An online fundraiser was begun for Quy, and Mesut Özil offered to pay his salary himself as long as he remains with Arsenal. In November 2020, in advance of COVID-19 regulations being relaxed to allow supporters to attend home games from 3 December, Arsenal announced that Gunnersaurus would return, to be played by a roster of people that could include Quy if he wished.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: The largest shareholder on the Arsenal board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke. Kroenke first launched a bid for the club in April 2007, and faced competition for shares from Red and White Securities, which acquired its first shares from David Dein in August 2007. Red & White Securities was co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Iranian London-based financier Farhad Moshiri, though Usmanov bought Moshiri's stake in 2016. Kroenke came close to the 30% takeover threshold in November 2009, when he increased his holding to 18,594 shares (29.9%). In April 2011, Kroenke achieved a full takeover by purchasing the shareholdings of Nina Bracewell-Smith and Danny Fiszman, taking his shareholding to 62.89%. In May 2017, Kroenke owned 41,721 shares (67.05%) and Red & White Securities owned 18,695 shares (30.04%). In January 2018, Kroenke expanded his ownership by buying twenty-two more shares, taking his total ownership to 67.09%. In August 2018, Kroenke bought out Usmanov for £550m. Now owning more than 90% of the shares, he had the required stake to complete the buyout of the remaining shares and become the sole owner. There has been criticism of Arsenal's poor performance since Kroenke took over, which has been attributed to his ownership. Ivan Gazidis was the club's Chief executive from 2009 to 2018.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc, operates as a non-quoted public limited company, whose ownership is considerably different from that of other football clubs. Only 62,219 shares in Arsenal have been issued, and they are not traded on a public exchange such as the FTSE or AIM; instead, they are traded relatively infrequently on the ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange, a specialist market. On 29 May 2017, a single share in Arsenal had a mid price of £18,000, which sets the club's market capitalisation value at approximately £1,119.9m. Most football clubs are not listed on an exchange, which makes direct comparisons of their values difficult. Consultants Brand Finance valued the club's brand and intangible assets at $703m in 2015, and consider Arsenal an AAA global brand. Business magazine Forbes valued Arsenal as a whole at $2.238 billion (£1.69 billion) in 2018, ranked third in English football. Research by the Henley Business School ranked Arsenal second in English football, modelling the club's value at £1.118 billion in 2015.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's financial results for the 2019–20 season showed an after tax loss of £47.8m, due in part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Deloitte Football Money League is a publication that homogenises and compares clubs' annual revenue. Deloitte put Arsenal's footballing revenue in 2019 at £392.7m (€445.6m), ranking Arsenal eleventh among world football clubs. Arsenal and Deloitte both listed the match day revenue generated in 2019 by the Emirates Stadium as €109.2m (£96.2m).


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal have appeared in a number of media "firsts". On 22 January 1927, their match at Highbury against Sheffield United was the first English League match to be broadcast live on radio. A decade later, on 16 September 1937, an exhibition match between Arsenal's first team and the reserves was the first football match in the world to be televised live. Arsenal also featured in the first edition of the BBC's "Match of the Day", which screened highlights of their match against Liverpool at Anfield on 22 August 1964. Sky's coverage of Arsenal's January 2010 match against Manchester United was the first live public broadcast of a sports event on 3D television.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: As one of the most successful teams in the country, Arsenal have often featured when football is depicted in the arts in Britain. They formed the backdrop to one of the earliest football-related novels, "The Arsenal Stadium Mystery" (1939), which was made into a film in the same year. The story centres on a friendly match between Arsenal and an amateur side, one of whose players is poisoned while playing. Many Arsenal players appeared as themselves in the film and manager George Allison was given a speaking part. The book "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby was an autobiographical account of Hornby's life and relationship with football and Arsenal in particular. Published in 1992, it formed part of the revival and rehabilitation of football in British society during the 1990s. The book was twice adapted for the cinema – the 1997 British film focuses on Arsenal's 1988–89 title win, and a 2005 American version features a fan of baseball's Boston Red Sox.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal have often been stereotyped as a defensive and "boring" side, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1997 film "The Full Monty" the principal characters move forward in a line and raise their hands, deliberately mimicking the Arsenal defence's offside trap, in an attempt to co-ordinate their striptease routine.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Fifteen years later an almost identical scene was included in the 2012 Disney science-fiction film "John Carter" (director and co-writer Andrew Stanton, a notable overseas supporter of the club), along with other visual cues and oblique dialogue hints and references to the club throughout the film.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Another film reference to the club's defence comes in the film "Plunkett & Macleane", in which two characters are named Dixon and Winterburn after Arsenal's long-serving full backs – the right-sided Lee Dixon and the left-sided Nigel Winterburn.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In August 2022, Amazon Prime Video released an eight-episode docuseries called "". It documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season, in which they were the youngest team in the Premier League with an average starting age of 24 years and 308 days – more than a whole year younger than the next team.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In 1985, Arsenal founded a community scheme, "Arsenal in the Community", which offered sporting, social inclusion, educational and charitable projects. The club support a number of charitable causes directly and in 1992 established The Arsenal Charitable Trust, which by 2006 had raised more than £2 million for local causes. An ex-professional and celebrity football team associated with the club also raised money by playing charity matches. The club launched the Arsenal for Everyone initiative in 2008 as an annual celebration of the diversity of the Arsenal family. In the 2009–10 season Arsenal announced that they had raised a record breaking £818,897 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The original target was £500,000.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Save the Children has been Arsenal global charity partner since 2011 and have worked together in numerous projects to improve safety and well-being for vulnerable children in London and abroad. On 3 September 2016 The Arsenal Foundation has donated £1m to build football pitches for children in London, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan and Somalia thanks to The Arsenal Foundation Legends Match against Milan Glorie at the Emirates Stadium. On 3 June 2018, Arsenal played Real Madrid in the Corazon Classic Match 2018 at the Bernabeu, where the proceeds went to Realtoo Real Madrid Foundation projects that are aimed at the most vulnerable children. In addition there will be a return meeting on 8 September 2018 at the Emirates stadium where proceeds will go towards the Arsenal foundation.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's tally of 13 League Championships is the third highest in English football, after Manchester United (20) and Liverpool (19),


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: and they were the first club to reach a seventh and an eighth League Championship. As of June 2020, they are one of seven teams, the others being Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Manchester City, Leicester City and Liverpool, to have won the Premier League since its formation in 1992.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: They hold the highest number of FA Cup trophies, with 14. The club is one of only six clubs to have won the FA Cup twice in succession, in 2002 and 2003, and 2014 and 2015.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal have achieved three League and FA Cup "Doubles" (in 1971, 1998 and 2002), a feat only previously achieved by Manchester United (in 1994, 1996 and 1999).


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal were also the first London club to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, in 2006, losing the final 2–1 to Barcelona.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal have one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times. They have won the second most top flight league matches in English football, and have also accumulated the second most points, whether calculated by two points per win or by the contemporary points value. They have been in the top flight for the most consecutive seasons (95 as of 2020–21). Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the 20th century, with an average league placement of 8.5.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal hold the record for the longest run of unbeaten League matches (49 between May 2003 and October 2004). This included all 38 matches of their title-winning 2003–04 season, when Arsenal became only the second club to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten, after Preston North End (who played only 22 matches) in 1888–89. They also hold the record for the longest top flight win streak. Arsenal set a Champions League record during the 2005–06 season by going ten matches without conceding a goal, beating the previous best of seven set by A.C. Milan. They went a record total stretch of 995 minutes without letting an opponent score; the streak ended in the final, when Samuel Eto'o scored a 76th-minute equaliser for Barcelona.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: David O'Leary holds the record for Arsenal appearances, having played 722 first-team matches between 1975 and 1993. Fellow centre half and former captain Tony Adams comes second, having played 669 times. The record for a goalkeeper is held by David Seaman, with 564 appearances. Thierry Henry is the club's top goalscorer with 228 goals in all competitions between 1999 and 2012,


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Wright's record had stood since September 1997, when he overtook the longstanding total of 178 goals set by winger Cliff Bastin in 1939.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Henry also holds the club record for goals scored in the League, with 175, a record that had been held by Bastin until February 2006.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's record home attendance is 73,707, for a UEFA Champions League match against RC Lens on 25 November 1998 at Wembley Stadium, where the club formerly played home European matches because of the limits on Highbury's capacity. The record attendance for an Arsenal match at Highbury is 73,295, for a 0–0 draw against Sunderland on 9 March 1935, while that at Emirates Stadium is 60,161, for a 2–2 draw with Manchester United on 3 November 2007.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal's first ever silverware was won as the Royal Arsenal in 1890. The Kent Junior Cup, won by Royal Arsenal's reserves, was the club's first trophy, while the first team's first trophy came three weeks later when they won the Kent Senior Cup. Their first national senior honour came in 1930, when they won the FA Cup. The club enjoyed further success in the 1930s, winning another FA Cup and five Football League First Division titles. Arsenal won their first league and cup double in the 1970–71 season and twice repeated the feat, in 1997–98 and 2001–02, as well as winning a cup double of the FA Cup and League Cup in 1992–93.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Seasons in bold are seasons when the club won a Double of the league and FA Cup, or of the FA Cup and League Cup. The 2003–04 season was the only 38-match league season unbeaten in English football history. A special gold version of the Premier League trophy was commissioned and presented to the club the following season.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: When the FA Cup was the only national football association competition available to Arsenal, the other football association competitions were County Cups, and they made up many of the matches the club played during a season. Arsenal's first first-team trophy was a County Cup, the inaugural Kent Senior Cup. Arsenal became ineligible for the London Cups when the club turned professional in 1891, and rarely participated in County Cups after this. Due to the club's original location within the borders of both the London and Kent Football Associations, Arsenal competed in and won trophies organised by each.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: During Arsenal's history, the club has participated in and won a variety of pre-season and friendly honours. These include Arsenal's own pre-season competition the Emirates Cup, begun in 2007. During the wars, previous competitions were widely suspended and the club had to participate in wartime competitions. During WWII, Arsenal won several of these.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Club coefficients are used to rank individual clubs for seeding in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and since 2021, the UEFA Europa Conference League.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal Women is the women's football club affiliated to Arsenal. Founded as Arsenal Ladies F.C. in 1987 by Vic Akers, they turned semi-professional in 2002 and have been managed since 2021 by Jonas Eidevall; Akers holds the role of Honorary President of Arsenal Women. As part of the festivities surrounding their 30th anniversary in 2017, the club announced that they were changing their formal name to Arsenal Women F.C., and would use "Arsenal" in all references except rare cases where there might be confusion with the men's side.


title: Arsenal F.C.

text: Arsenal Women are the most successful team in English women's football having won a total of 58 trophies. In the 2008–09 season, they won all three major English trophies – the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup and FA Women's Premier League Cup, and, as of 2017, were the only English side to have won the UEFA Women's Cup or UEFA Women's Champions League, having won the Cup in the 2006–07 season as part of a unique quadruple. The men's and women's clubs are formally separate entities but have close ties; Arsenal Women are entitled to play at the Emirates Stadium, though they usually play their home matches at Meadow Park in Borehamwood.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, the short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, and the carrier-based (CV/CATOBAR) F-35C.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The aircraft descends from the Lockheed Martin X-35, which in 2001 beat the Boeing X-32 to win the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is principally funded by the United States, with additional funding from program partner countries from NATO and close U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and formerly Turkey. Several other countries have also ordered, or are considering ordering, the aircraft. The program has drawn much scrutiny and criticism for its unprecedented size, complexity, ballooning costs, and much-delayed deliveries. The acquisition strategy of concurrent production of the aircraft while it was still in development and testing led to expensive design changes and retrofits.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 first flew in 2006 and entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B in July 2015, followed by the U.S. Air Force F-35A in August 2016 and the U.S. Navy F-35C in February 2019. The aircraft was first used in combat in 2018 by the Israeli Air Force. The U.S. plans to buy 2,456 F-35s through 2044, which will represent the bulk of the crewed tactical aviation of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps for several decades; the aircraft is planned to be a cornerstone of NATO and U.S.-allied air power and to operate until 2070.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 was the product of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, which was the merger of various combat aircraft programs from the 1980s and 1990s. One progenitor program was the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Advanced Short Take-Off/Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) which ran from 1983 to 1994; ASTOVL aimed to develop a Harrier jump jet replacement for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the U.K. Royal Navy. Under one of ASTOVL's classified programs, the Supersonic STOVL Fighter (SSF), Lockheed Skunk Works conducted research for a stealthy supersonic STOVL fighter intended for both U.S. Air Force (USAF) and USMC; a key technology explored was the shaft-driven lift fan (SDLF) system. Lockheed's concept was a single-engine canard delta aircraft weighing about empty. ASTOVL was rechristened as the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) in 1993 and involved Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: In 1993, the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program emerged following the cancellation of the USAF's Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) and U.S. Navy's (USN) Advanced Fighter-Attack (A/F-X) programs. MRF, a program for a relatively affordable F-16 replacement, was scaled back and delayed due to post–Cold War defense posture easing F-16 fleet usage and thus extending its service life as well as increasing budget pressure from the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. The A/F-X, initially known as the Advanced-Attack (A-X), began in 1991 as the USN's follow-on to the Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) program for an A-6 replacement; the ATA's resulting A-12 Avenger II had been canceled due to technical problems and cost overruns in 1991. In the same year, the termination of the Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), a naval development of USAF's ATF program to replace the F-14, resulted in additional fighter capability being added to A-X, which was then renamed A/F-X. Amid increased budget pressure, the Department of Defense's (DoD) Bottom-Up Review (BUR) in September 1993 announced MRF's and A/F-X's cancellations, with applicable experience brought to the emerging JAST program. JAST was not meant to develop a new aircraft, but rather to develop requirements, mature technologies, and demonstrate concepts for advanced strike warfare.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: As JAST progressed, the need for concept demonstrator aircraft by 1996 emerged, which would coincide with the full-scale flight demonstrator phase of ASTOVL/CALF. Because the ASTOVL/CALF concept appeared to align with the JAST charter, the two programs were eventually merged in 1994 under the JAST name, with the program now serving the USAF, USMC, and USN. JAST was subsequently renamed to Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in 1995, with STOVL submissions by McDonnell Douglas, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. The JSF was expected to eventually replace large numbers of multi-role and strike fighters in the inventories of the US and its allies, including the Harrier, F-16, F/A-18, A-10, and F-117.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: International participation is a key aspect of the JSF program, starting with United Kingdom participation in the ASTOVL program. Many international partners requiring modernization of their air forces were interested in the JSF. The United Kingdom joined JAST/JSF as a founding member in 1995 and thus became the only Tier 1 partner of the JSF program; Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Australia, and Turkey joined the program during the Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP), with Italy and the Netherlands being Tier 2 partners and the rest Tier 3. Consequently, the aircraft was developed in cooperation with international partners and available for export.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Boeing and Lockheed Martin were selected in early 1997 for CDP, with their concept demonstrator aircraft designated X-32 and X-35 respectively; the McDonnell Douglas team was eliminated and Northrop Grumman and British Aerospace joined the Lockheed Martin team. Each firm would produce two prototype air vehicles to demonstrate conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier takeoff and landing (CV), and STOVL. Lockheed Martin's design would make use of the work on the SDLF system conducted under the ASTOVL/CALF program. The key aspect of the X-35 that enabled STOVL operation, the SDLF system consists of the lift fan in the forward center fuselage that could be activated by engaging a clutch that connects the driveshaft to the turbines and thus augmenting the thrust from the engine's swivel nozzle. Research from prior aircraft incorporating similar systems, such as the Convair Model 200, Rockwell XFV-12, and Yakovlev Yak-141, were also taken into consideration. By contrast, Boeing's X-32 employed direct lift system that the augmented turbofan would be reconfigured to when engaging in STOVL operation.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Lockheed Martin's commonality strategy was to replace the STOVL variant's SDLF with a fuel tank and the aft swivel nozzle with a two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzle for the CTOL variant. This would enable identical aerodynamic configuration for the STOVL and CTOL variants, while the CV variant would have an enlarged wing to reduce landing speed for carrier recovery. Due to aerodynamic characteristics and carrier recovery requirements from the JAST merger, the design configuration settled on a conventional tail compared to the canard delta design from the ASTOVL/CALF; notably, the conventional tail configuration offers much lower risk for carrier recovery compared to the ASTOVL/CALF canard configuration, which was designed without carrier compatibility in mind. This enabled greater commonality between all three variants, as the commonality goal was important at this design stage. Lockheed Martin's prototypes would consist of the X-35A for demonstrating CTOL before converting it to the X-35B for STOVL demonstration and the larger-winged X-35C for CV compatibility demonstration.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The X-35A first flew on 24 October 2000 and conducted flight tests for subsonic and supersonic flying qualities, handling, range, and maneuver performance. After 28 flights, the aircraft was then converted into the X-35B for STOVL testing, with key changes including the addition of the SDLF, the three-bearing swivel module (3BSM), and roll-control ducts. The X-35B would successfully demonstrate the SDLF system by performing stable hover, vertical landing, and short takeoff in less than . The X-35C first flew on 16 December 2000 and conducted field landing carrier practice tests.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: On 26 October 2001, Lockheed Martin was declared the winner and was awarded the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract; Pratt & Whitney was separately awarded a development contract for the F135 engine for the JSF. The F-35 designation, which was out of sequence with standard DoD numbering, was allegedly determined on the spot by program manager Major General Mike Hough; this came as a surprise even to Lockheed Martin, which had expected the F-24 designation for the JSF.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: As the JSF program moved into the System Development and Demonstration phase, the X-35 demonstrator design was modified to create the F-35 combat aircraft. The forward fuselage was lengthened by to make room for mission avionics, while the horizontal stabilizers were moved aft to retain balance and control. The diverterless supersonic inlet changed from a four-sided to a three-sided cowl shape and was moved aft. The fuselage section was fuller, the top surface raised by along the centerline to accommodate weapons bays. Following the designation of the X-35 prototypes, the three variants were designated F-35A (CTOL), F-35B (STOVL), and F-35C (CV), all with a design service life of 8,000 hours. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin performs overall systems integration and final assembly and checkout (FACO), while Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems supply components for mission systems and airframe.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Adding the systems of a fighter aircraft added weight. The F-35B gained the most, largely due to a 2003 decision to enlarge the weapons bays for commonality between variants; the total weight growth was reportedly up to , over 8%, causing all STOVL key performance parameter (KPP) thresholds to be missed. In December 2003, the STOVL Weight Attack Team (SWAT) was formed to reduce the weight increase; changes included thinned airframe members, smaller weapons bays and vertical stabilizers, less thrust fed to the roll-post outlets, and redesigning the wing-mate joint, electrical elements, and the airframe immediately aft of the cockpit. The inlet was also revised to accommodate more powerful, greater mass flow engines. Many changes from the SWAT effort were applied to all three variants for commonality. By September 2004, these efforts had reduced the F-35B's weight by over , while the F-35A and F-35C were reduced in weight by and respectively. The weight reduction work cost $6.2 billion and caused an 18-month delay.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The first F-35A, designated AA-1, was rolled out in Fort Worth, Texas, on 19 February 2006 and first flew on 15 December 2006. In 2006, the F-35 was given the name "Lightning II" after the Lockheed P-38 Lightning of World War II. Some USAF pilots have nicknamed the aircraft "Panther" instead.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The aircraft's software was developed as six releases, or Blocks, for SDD. The first two Blocks, 1A and 1B, readied the F-35 for initial pilot training and multi-level security. Block 2A improved the training capabilities, while 2B was the first combat-ready release planned for the USMC's Initial Operating Capability (IOC). Block 3i retains the capabilities of 2B while having new hardware and was planned for the USAF's IOC. The final release for SDD, Block 3F, would have full flight envelope and all baseline combat capabilities. Alongside software releases, each block also incorporates avionics hardware updates and air vehicle improvements from flight and structural testing. In what is known as "concurrency", some low rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft lots would be delivered in early Block configurations and eventually upgraded to Block 3F once development is complete. After 17,000 flight test hours, the final flight for the SDD phase was completed in April 2018. Like the F-22, the F-35 has been targeted by cyberattacks and technology theft efforts, as well as potential vulnerabilities in the integrity of the supply chain.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Testing found several major problems: early F-35B airframes had premature cracking, the F-35C arrestor hook design was unreliable, fuel tanks were too vulnerable to lightning strikes, the helmet display had problems, and more. Software was repeatedly delayed due to its unprecedented scope and complexity. In 2009, the DoD Joint Estimate Team (JET) estimated that the program was 30 months behind the public schedule. In 2011, the program was "re-baselined"; that is, its cost and schedule goals were changed, pushing the IOC from the planned 2010 to July 2015. The decision to simultaneously test, fix defects, and begin production was criticized as inefficient; in 2014, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Frank Kendall called it "acquisition malpractice". The three variants shared just 25% of their parts, far below the anticipated commonality of 70%. The program received considerable criticism for cost overruns and for the total projected lifetime cost, as well as quality management shortcomings by contractors.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The JSF program was expected to cost about $200 billion for acquisition in base-year 2002 dollars when SDD was awarded in 2001. As early as 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had identified major program risks in cost and schedule. The costly delays strained the relationship between the Pentagon and contractors. By 2017, delays and cost overruns had pushed the F-35 program's expected acquisition costs to $406.5 billion, with total lifetime cost (i.e., to 2070) to $1.5 trillion in then-year dollars which also includes operations and maintenance. The F-35A's unit cost for LRIP Lot 13 was $79.2 million. Delays in development and operational test and evaluation pushed full-rate production to 2023.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The first combat-capable Block 2B configuration, which had basic air-to-air and strike capabilities, was declared ready by the USMC in July 2015. The Block 3F configuration began operational test and evaluation (OT&E) in December 2018, the completion of which will conclude SDD. The F-35 program is also conducting sustainment and upgrade development, with early LRIP aircraft gradually upgraded to the baseline Block 3F standard by 2021.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 is expected to be continually upgraded over its lifetime. The first upgrade program, called Continuous Capability Development and Delivery (C2D2) began in 2019 and is currently planned to run to 2024. The near-term development priority of C2D2 is Block 4, which would integrate additional weapons, including those unique to international customers, refresh the avionics, improve ESM capabilities, and add Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) support. C2D2 also places greater emphasis on agile software development to enable quicker releases. In 2018, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) awarded contracts to General Electric and Pratt & Whitney to develop more powerful and efficient adaptive cycle engines for potential application in the F-35, leveraging the research done under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP); in 2022, the F-35 Adaptive Engine Replacement (FAER) program was launched to integrate adaptive cycle engines into the aircraft by 2028.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Defense contractors have offered upgrades to the F-35 outside of official program contracts. In 2013, Northrop Grumman disclosed its development of a directional infrared countermeasures suite, named Threat Nullification Defensive Resource (ThNDR). The countermeasure system would share the same space as the Distributed Aperture System (DAS) sensors and acts as a laser missile jammer to protect against infrared-homing missiles.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: In September 2022, the F-35 delivery was temporarily suspended after determining Chinese sourced materials were used in Honeywell pumps.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The United States is the primary customer and financial backer, with planned procurement of 1,763 F-35As for the USAF, 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs for the USMC, and 273 F-35Cs for the USN. Additionally, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, Norway, Denmark and Canada have agreed to contribute US$4.375 billion towards development costs, with the United Kingdom contributing about 10% of the planned development costs as the sole Tier 1 partner. The initial plan was that the U.S. and eight major partner countries would acquire over 3,100 F-35s through 2035. The three tiers of international participation generally reflect financial stake in the program, the amount of technology transfer and subcontracts open for bid by national companies, and the order in which countries can obtain production aircraft. Alongside program partner countries, Israel and Singapore have joined as Security Cooperative Participants (SCP). Sales to SCP and non-partner states, including Belgium, Japan, and South Korea, are made through the Pentagon's Foreign Military Sales program. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in July 2019 over security concerns following its purchase of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 is a family of single-engine, supersonic, stealth multirole fighters. The second fifth generation fighter to enter US service and the first operational supersonic STOVL stealth fighter, the F-35 emphasizes low observables, advanced avionics and sensor fusion that enable a high level of situational awareness and long range lethality; the USAF considers the aircraft its primary strike fighter for conducting suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions, owing to the advanced sensors and mission systems.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 has a wing-tail configuration with two vertical stabilizers canted for stealth. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, rudders, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); leading edge root extensions also run forwards to the inlets. The relatively short 35-foot wingspan of the F-35A and F-35B is set by the requirement to fit inside USN amphibious assault ship parking areas and elevators; the F-35C's larger wing is more fuel efficient. The fixed diverterless supersonic inlets (DSI) use a bumped compression surface and forward-swept cowl to shed the boundary layer of the forebody away from the inlets, which form a Y-duct for the engine. Structurally, the F-35 drew upon lessons from the F-22; composites comprise 35% of airframe weight, with the majority being bismaleimide and composite epoxy materials as well as some carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy in later production lots. The F-35 is considerably heavier than the lightweight fighters it replaces, with the lightest variant having an empty weight of ; much of the weight can be attributed to the internal weapons bays and the extensive avionics carried.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: While lacking the raw performance of the larger twin-engine F-22, the F-35 has kinematics competitive with fourth generation fighters such as the F-16 and F/A-18, especially with ordnance mounted because the F-35's internal weapons carriage eliminates parasitic drag from external stores. All variants have a top speed of Mach 1.6, attainable with full internal payload. The powerful F135 engine gives good subsonic acceleration and energy, with supersonic dash in afterburner. The large stabilitors, leading edge extensions and flaps, and canted rudders provide excellent high alpha (angle-of-attack) characteristics, with a trimmed alpha of 50°. Relaxed stability and fly-by-wire controls provide excellent handling qualities and departure resistance. Having over double the F-16's internal fuel, the F-35 has a considerably greater combat radius, while stealth also enables a more efficient mission flight profile.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35's mission systems are among the most complex aspects of the aircraft. The avionics and sensor fusion are designed to enhance the pilot's situational awareness and command and control capabilities and facilitate network-centric warfare. Key sensors include the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, BAE Systems AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system, Northrop Grumman/Raytheon AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS), Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and Northrop Grumman AN/ASQ-242 Communications, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) suite. The F-35 was designed with sensor intercommunication to provide a cohesive image of the local battlespace and availability for any possible use and combination with one another; for example, the APG-81 radar also acts as a part of the electronic warfare system.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Much of the F-35's software was developed in C and C++ programming languages, while Ada83 code from the F-22 was also used; the Block 3F software has 8.6 million lines of code. The Green Hills Software Integrity DO-178B real-time operating system (RTOS) runs on integrated core processors (ICPs); data networking includes the IEEE 1394b and Fibre Channel buses. To enable fleet software upgrades for the software-defined radio systems and greater upgrade flexibility and affordability, the avionics leverage commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components when practical. The mission systems software, particularly for sensor fusion, was one of the program's most difficult parts and responsible for substantial program delays.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The APG-81 radar uses electronic scanning for rapid beam agility and incorporates passive and active air-to-air modes, strike modes, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability, with multiple target track-while-scan at ranges in excess of . The antenna is tilted backwards for stealth. Complementing the radar is the AAQ-37 DAS, which consists of six infrared sensors that provide all-aspect missile launch warning and target tracking; the DAS acts as a situational awareness infrared search-and-track (SAIRST) and gives the pilot spherical infrared and night-vision imagery on the helmet visor. The ASQ-239 Barracuda electronic warfare system has ten radio frequency antennas embedded into the edges of the wing and tail for all-aspect radar warning receiver (RWR). It also provides sensor fusion of radio frequency and infrared tracking functions, geolocation threat targeting, and multispectral image countermeasures for self-defense against missiles. The electronic warfare system is capable of detecting and jamming hostile radars. The AAQ-40 EOTS is mounted internally behind a faceted low-observable window under the nose and performs laser targeting, forward-looking infrared (FLIR), and long range IRST functions. The ASQ-242 CNI suite uses a half dozen different physical links, including the directional Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL), for covert CNI functions. Through sensor fusion, information from radio frequency receivers and infrared sensors are combined to form a single tactical picture for the pilot. The all-aspect target direction and identification can be shared via MADL to other platforms without compromising low observability, while Link 16 is present for communication with legacy systems.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The F-35 was designed from the outset to incorporate improved processors, sensors, and software enhancements over its lifespan. Technology Refresh 3, which includes a new core processor and a new cockpit display, is planned for Lot 15 aircraft. Lockheed Martin has offered the Advanced EOTS for the Block 4 configuration; the improved sensor fits into the same area as the baseline EOTS with minimal changes. In June 2018, Lockheed Martin picked Raytheon for improved DAS. The USAF has studied the potential for the F-35 to orchestrate attacks by unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) via its sensors and communications equipment.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Stealth is a key aspect of the F-35's design, and radar cross-section (RCS) is minimized through careful shaping of the airframe and the use of radar-absorbent materials (RAM); visible measures to reduce RCS include alignment of edges, serration of skin panels, and the masking of the engine face and turbine. Additionally, the F-35's diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) uses a compression bump and forward-swept cowl rather than a splitter gap or bleed system to divert the boundary layer away from the inlet duct, eliminating the diverter cavity and further reducing radar signature. The RCS of the F-35 has been characterized as lower than a metal golf ball at certain frequencies and angles; in some conditions, the F-35 compares favorably to the F-22 in stealth. For maintainability, the F-35's stealth design took lessons learned from prior stealth aircraft such as the F-22; the F-35's radar-absorbent fibermat skin is more durable and requires less maintenance than older topcoats. The aircraft also has reduced infrared and visual signatures as well as strict controls of radio frequency emitters to prevent their detection. The F-35's stealth design is primarily focused on high-frequency X-band wavelengths; low-frequency radars can spot stealthy aircraft due to Rayleigh scattering, but such radars are also conspicuous, susceptible to clutter, and lack precision. To disguise its RCS, the aircraft can mount four Luneburg lens reflectors.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Noise from the F-35 caused concerns in residential areas near potential bases for the aircraft, and residents near two such bases—Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida—requested environmental impact studies in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Although the noise level in decibels were comparable to those of prior fighters such as the F-16, the sound power of the F-35 is stronger particularly at lower frequencies. Subsequent surveys and studies have indicated that the noise of the F-35 was not perceptibly different from the F-16 and F/A-18E/F, though the greater low-frequency noise was noticeable for some observers.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The glass cockpit was designed to give the pilot good situational awareness. The main display is a 20- by 8-inch (50 by 20 cm) panoramic touchscreen, which shows flight instruments, stores management, CNI information, and integrated caution and warnings; the pilot can customize the arrangement of the information. Below the main display is a smaller stand-by display. The cockpit has a speech-recognition system developed by Adacel. The F-35 does not have a head-up display; instead, flight and combat information is displayed on the visor of the pilot's helmet in a helmet-mounted display system (HMDS). The one-piece tinted canopy is hinged at the front and has an internal frame for structural strength. The Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat is launched by a twin-catapult system housed on side rails. There is a right-hand side stick and throttle hands-on throttle-and-stick system. For life support, an onboard oxygen-generation system (OBOGS) is fitted and powered by the Integrated Power Package (IPP), with an auxiliary oxygen bottle and backup oxygen system for emergencies.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: The Vision Systems International helmet display is a key piece of the F-35's human-machine interface. Instead of the head-up display mounted atop the dashboard of earlier fighters, the HMDS puts flight and combat information on the helmet visor, allowing the pilot to see it no matter which way they are facing. Infrared and night vision imagery from the Distributed Aperture System can be displayed directly on the HMDS and enables the pilot to "see through" the aircraft. The HMDS allows an F-35 pilot to fire missiles at targets even when the nose of the aircraft is pointing elsewhere by cuing missile seekers at high angles off-boresight. Each helmet costs $400,000. The HMDS weighs more than traditional helmets, and there is concern that it can endanger lightweight pilots during ejection.


title: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

text: Due to the HMDS's vibration, jitter, night-vision and sensor display problems during development, Lockheed Martin and Elbit issued a draft specification in 2011 for an alternative HMDS based on the AN/AVS-9 night vision goggles as backup, with BAE Systems chosen later that year. A cockpit redesign would be needed to adopt an alternative HMDS. Following progress on the baseline helmet, development on the alternative HMDS was halted in October 2013. In 2016, the Gen 3 helmet with improved night vision camera, new liquid crystal displays, automated alignment and software enhancements was introduced with LRIP lot 7.