Tulsa Firm Showcases Its Part In Building Military's Most Advanced Jet

It's as close as you can get to actually flying the Pentagon's most advanced military aircraft, the F-35 Lighting II, without leaving the ground.

A Tulsa company builds part of the jet's electronics and Monday invited the media to fly in the F-35 cockpit simulator.

The next generation of fighter jet is built by Lockheed Martin.

Ducommun LaBarge Technologies manufactures sophisticated electronics used in the radar and flight control systems.

I sat in the flight simulator at the company's facility on East 60th Street and found out what the multirole fighter jet can do.

Different versions of the F-35 are now being tested by the Air Force, Marines and Navy. The jet is scheduled to be in service as early as 2015.

Bob DuLaney was in the Air Force for 33 years and knows how the F-35 could revolutionize warfare.

"We're giving our men and women in uniform the advantage that they deserve. They're the very best that this country produces, and they have put everyone of us ahead of themselves. We owe them a debt we can't pay back. But we can see to it that when we send them into harm's way, they have the advantage," said Bob DuLaney.

First District Congressman Jim Bridenstine, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, visited Ducommun LaBarge Technologies Monday and also tried out the simulator.