The origins of the F-35 and the amazing challenges the industry had to be overcome go back to a still-secret NATO study that evaluated the vulnerability of air force bases in the West.This spurred development for Short Take off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) fighter aircraft. Only two aircraft with this capability actually entered service, the British Harrier and the Russian Yak-38. However, these aircraft lacked supersonic capability which made them vulnerable to faster fighters. So a programme was initiated for a supersonic STOVL fighter - but the trail of unsuccessful efforts was long. NASA, as well as the defense Evaluation and Research Agency and private industry, studied advanced STOVL propulsion ideas but without tangible result. It was only when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, at the request of the Marine Corps, issued study contracts for a supersonic STOVL fighter to American industry that real progress began to be made.It was Lockheed Martin that came up finally
