combat aircraft

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F-35’S UK HOMECOMING

‘DAMBUSTERS’ ARRIVE AT RAF MARHAM

P

ILOTS FROM THE Royal

Air Force and the Royal

Navy’s Fleet Air Arm

delivered four British

F-35B Lightnings to

their permanent main

operating base at RAF Marham,

Norfolk, on June 6, two months

ahead of the original delivery

schedule. The Atlantic crossing

was supported by three Royal Air

Force Voyager tankers and each of

the  ghters performed nine aerial

refuelings during the 8.5-hour  ight.

A further  ve aircraft are scheduled

to make the crossing to the UK

before the end of August.

The Lightnings had been operating

from Marine Corps Air Station

Beaufort, South Carolina, where the

British pilots are undergoing training

with Marine Fighter Attack Training

Squadron (VMFAT) 501. The UK has

received 15 F-35Bs to date and No

617 Squadron ‘Dambusters’ was

formally reactivated at a ceremony

held in Washington DC on April

17. A cadre of British personnel
    and aircraft will remain at MCAS
    Beaufort in order to form No 207
    Squadron, which will serve as the
    UK’s operational conversion unit
    for the F-35 and will relocate to RAF
    Marham in July 2019.

Under current plans the

‘Dambusters’ are expected to

achieve initial operational capability

from land bases with the F-35B

by the end of the year. The British

F-35Bs will be operated by a joint

RAF and Royal Navy Lightning Force

comprising personnel from both

services. The Lightnings will  y both

from land bases and the new Queen

Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and

 ight trials with the Royal Navy

carrier are expected to begin during

this fall in the US.

FIRST COMBAT MISSIONS FOR F-

THE ISRAEL DEFENSE Forces

announced on May 22 that they had

used their F-35As operationally in

combat for the  rst time. The Israeli

Air Force reportedly used Lightning

IIs — which are known locally as

the Adir (Hebrew for ‘mighty’) — in

two recent strikes in the Middle

East, according to the commander

of the IAF, Maj Gen Amikam Norkin.

It was unclear, however, whether

the aircraft carried out the strikes

themselves or supported other

aircraft that engaged the targets. The

IAF’s 140 ‘Golden Eagle’ Squadron

is currently operating nine F-35As

and expects to receive six additional

examples this year. Tom Kaminski

300 TH F-

LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERED

the 300th production Lightning

II to the US Air Force on June 11.

The F-35A joined the 388th Fighter

Wing at Hill AFB, Utah. Since

production deliveries began in May

2011, three production facilities

in Texas, Italy and Japan have

combined to supply 197 F-35As,

75 F-35Bs and 28 F-35Cs. Since the

 rst Lightning IIs entered service,

more than 620 pilots and 5,

maintainers have been trained,

and the  eet has chalked up in

excess of 140,000  ight hours.

The F-35 enterprise delivered

66 aircraft in 2017 and 91 are

scheduled for 2018. Under current

plans, production should peak at

160 aircraft annually in 2023.

It features two deployable

wings on top of the body and four

extending  ns on the empennage,

together with a 310kg (683lb)

warhead. The weapon is powered by

a Saturn izdeliye 37-04 turbofan.

When launched from between

650ft and 36,000ft, at Mach 0.5-0.

release speed the weapon  ies to

the target at a speed of 405-540kt.

The export version of the missile

has a range of 157nm, which is

limited by the formal requirements

of the missile technology control

regime — the version for the Russian

Aerospace Forces has a far greater

range. Piotr Butowski

A still shot from the video

released that depicts the

missile launch from a Su-57.

via Piotr Butowski

The 300th Lightning II, F-35A serial 15-

for the 388th Fighter Wing. Lockheed Martin

HEADLINES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // August 2018 07

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