X-35B - Ustio Air Force

Captured airframes during the Belkan War included several pre-production X-35's from the South Belka Munitions Factory (SBMF). Prior to hostilities, it had a stake in the JSF program and was cleared to produce the type for the Belkan Navy. Operational production model F-35B's and F-35C's were scuttled by retreating Belkan forces but in their haste, a number of airframes were spared. Six X-35B's and three X-35C's (older model configurations) were sent to storage in a classified Ustio bunker where they remained for the duration of the conflict.

During the post-war reconstruction, the prototype airframes - kept as reparations from the Belkans, were integrated into the UAF's aviation testing center in Vitali. They were briefly flown to assess their flight performance and several were even weaponized to bolster the UAF stealth fleet. When Ustio formally entered the JSF program in 1999, the X-35's were traded for the delivery of production-spec F-35's in 2002.