remain in the US to work alongside their
US counterparts for several years. A British
element will also remain at Patuxent River
working in the ITF.
While 617 Sqn will be the first F-35B
squadron to return to the UK, a roll-out
for new units will follow with 207(R) Sqn
standing up in July 2019 as the operational
conversion unit. Its first task will be to train
the next cadre of F-35B pilots to crew the
second operation F-35 unit, 809 NAS, by
April 2023.
The ambition is to have four frontline F-35
units, although the plans for the final two
operational squadrons are still at an early
stage. There is funding for the purchase of
48 aircraft until 2024. This breaks down to
12 for each of the frontline squadrons, of
which one squadron will be embarked or
held ready to embark on the carrier that is
at high readiness for operations on a 24/7
basis.Another dozen aircraft will be used for
pilot conversion and groundcrew training in
the UK and in the US. Out of the remaining
aircraft, up to eight are expected be
undergoing overhaul at any one point and
the balance will be kept in the US for test
and evaluation.
The UK government has the long-term
ambition to purchase 138 F-35 aircraft,
which will provide the aircraft for the final
two squadrons of the Lightning Force
and then give the RAF a shore-based
capability. These plans are not set in
stone and there is no money in the
MOD’s long-term equipment plan to buy
aircraft beyond the initial 48 aircraft before
2025.
RAF officers have expressed an interest
in buying F-35A or F-35C variants for use
from shore bases because of a better range
and weapons payload than the lift-fan
equipped F-35B.The recent decision by the French and
German governments to launch a project
to build a next-generation manned combat
aircraft could also potentially influence
future RAF procurement plans, if the UK
government decides to join the European
partnership. There is unlikely to be enough
money for the RAF to buy more F-35s, as
well as a new European aircraft.NAVAL AIR POWER
While most attention has focused on the
performance of the F-35B and the cost of
buying the aircraft, the rebirth of the UK’s
Carrier Strike capability will no doubt lead to
new thinking on how to use it.
There appears to been some debate
between the RAF and the Royal Navy as
to how airpower should be employed from
the new carriers. Many naval officers see
embarked air groups as an integral part
of the carrier, with the aircraft and crews
always sailing with the ship wherever it
goes. This fosters unit cohesion and loyalty
with crews drilled to peak efficiency in the
demanding skills of flying from the deck of
a carrier.
The RAF sees the Lightning Force as
a national asset that needs to concentrate
on honing its air warfare skills for high
intensity air combat operations. That, say
some senior RAF officers, is best done
from shore bases and participation in major
multinational exercises, such as Red Flag
in the US, rather than being on an aircraft
carrier for months at a time.
This argument has been swirling around
for more than a decade and peace of sorts
was brokered in 2012 by the then Defence
Secretary Philip Hammond who instructed
that “when deployed outside home waters,
the new carrier[s] will routinely have
Lightning II jets embarked with personnel
from both Services”.
With the countdown underway to the first
landing of an F-35B on the deck of HMS
Queen Elizabeth, it will soon be time to see
how the jet performs for real.58 Aviation News incorporating Jets January 2018An unusually blue North Sea forms a colourful backdrop for an RAF and US Marine Corps
F-35B. Crown copyright 2016The UK intends to buy 138 F-35Bs, though pressure on the
defence budget could see this reduced. Crown copyright 201554-58_raf_f35DC.mf.indd 58 30/11/2017 12:18