[3] Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were selected as the winners of the Joint Strike Fighter competition; The System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract was announced on 26 October 2001.

Capabilities of the AN/APG-81 include the AN/APG-77's air-to-air modes, plus advanced air-to-ground modes, including high resolution mapping, multiple ground moving target indication and track, combat identification, electronic warfare, and ultra high bandwidth communications.

[4] The F-22 radar from Lot 5 aircraft onward is the APG-77(V)1, which draws heavily on APG-81 hardware and software for its advanced air-to-ground capabilities.

[6] In June 2009, the F-35s APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar was integrated in the Northern Edge 2009 large-scale military exercise when it was mounted on the front of a Northrop Grumman test aircraft.

"[7] Announced on 22 June 2010: The radar met and exceeded its performance objectives successfully tracking long-range targets as part of the first mission systems test flights of the F-35 Lightning II BF-4 aircraft.