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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LowObservable" data-source="post: 38795" data-attributes="member: 289">F-13 - bad luckF-19 - as explained by ParschF-24 to F-34 - What appears to have been confusion when LockMart was announced the winner of JSF, resulting in the out-of-sequence "F-35". A word on X-32/X-35. These were never XF designations. X-32 was assigned (in sequence, after X-31) to DARPA for the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) demonstration, and was current when Lockheed and MDC were awarded contracts in 3/93. The idea was that the winning team (there would only be one) would build two aircraft, completing one in CTOL form (X-32A) and the other as a STOVL (X-32B). However, this down-select never happened under CALF.  Under JSF, there would be two concept demonstration teams. The X-32 designation was reused for one of them, but the X-33 and X-34 designators had been assigned to NASA programs by the time JSF looked for a second designator, so that became X-35. I believe that Boeing was given X-32 on an alphabetical basis. However, that does explain why, at one time, there was a "Lockheed X-32" design.</blockquote>