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F-35 LIGHTNING II UK Lightning Force
the UK progresses towards a joint deployment
with the US Marine Corps in 2021.
Air Commodore Paul Godfrey is the head of
the Carrier Enabled Power Projection (CEPP)
team. The mandate of the team is to ensure
that the two new British aircraft carriers
are aligned with the various projects – with
the right capabilities in place – to enable
the UK to fully realise this impressive new
air power instrument. That includes the
carriers themselves, plus the new Crowsnest
airborne early warning system on Merlin
helicopters, and of course the F-35s. “A
cross-service team is ensuring all the pieces
fit together,” he told this magazine. “It’s not
just the aircraft landing on the ship, actually
the devil is in the detail. For example, RAFadministration personnel deploying aboard
HMS Queen Elizabeth may need Royal Navy
firefighting training.” Godfrey oversees a
complex puzzle of highly specialised pieces.
The big effort is Carrier Strike Group
2021, which will bring together the RAF,
RN and the US Marine Corps for the first
operational maritime deployment. “The
Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are the only
ships designed specifically to operate the
F-35,” he explains. “We have learned a lot
of lessons from the Marine Corps as they’ve
deployed the F-35B aboard their amphibious
ships USS Essex and America, and we are
working out all the finer details to ensure
we can train and certify together and then
deploy together.” Godfrey says he expects theABOVE: Led by the Red Arrows, a British F-35B own by Sqn Ldr Hugh Nichols and two Typhoon FGR4s
of No 1(F) Squadron prepare for a ypast at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2016. Jamie Hunter