21 ST CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS
21 ST CENTURY CAPABILITIES
21st CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS AIR POWER 2017 81
In late May 2017, just before Group Captain Ian ‘Cab’ Townsend
finished his tour as the Lightning Force Commander to become
Station Commander at RAF Marham, he offered his thoughts on
the partnerships that are bringing the Lightning Force from
concept to reality in 2018. Jim Winchester reports
F-35B LIGHTNING
FORCE
C
ommand of the Lightning Force is a Royal
Air Force (RAF) tied appointment; the
deputy is a Royal Navy (RN) captain and
manning is directed at 58% RAF, 42% RN.
A former Harrier pilot himself, Group Captain (Gp
Capt) Ian ‘Cab’ Townsend explains how the Services’
previous command arrangements for that Force is
The UK’s Lockheed
Martin F-35B
Lightning will
achieve initial
operating
capability in 2018
(PHOTO:
SAC TIM LAURENCE/
© CROWN COPYRIGHT)
helping with the plans to form the Lightning Force:
“I think we’ve invested a lot of time bringing the
lessons from Joint Force Harrier into this force, and
that might be as simple as the uniforms we wear
to work and the fact that we will see the history of
the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy reflected
in squadron badges, but that is not to say that
