Fly Past

96 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

LOCKHEED MARTIN LIGHTNING II

U

nlike every other aircraft

profiled in this publication, the

Lightning II has not entered

operational service and, apart from

airshow appearances in 2016, has yet

to be based in the UK. With a unit

cost of around £122 million each,

nine examples are expected to be

delivered to Marham by the middle of

this year.

In hot competition with Boeing,

Lockheed Martin was the winner

of the American Joint Strike Fighter

(JSF) competition to supply fifth-

generation fighters for the United

States Air Force, Navy and Marine

Corps. Several overseas nations

expressed an interest in ordering, or

taking part in the programme.

Britain signed up in 2001 as a ‘Level

1’ major industrial JSF partner, with

BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and others

involved in production and support.

Britain ordered the F-35B to replace

the Panavia Tornado and to return

to the carrier-borne strike capability,

which had been forsaken with the

retirement of the BAe/McDD Harrier

force in 2010.

There are three versions: land-based,

the ‘big-wing’ carrier-borne version for

the US Navy, and the F-35B for the

UK and the US Marines. The F-35B

is a STOVL aircraft – short take-off

and vertical landing – and is designed

to operate from smaller carriers,

without the need for catapult launch.

The Lightning II represents a huge

leap in capability for the RAF. It

will operate alongside the equally

potent Eurofighter Typhoon, well

into the 2040s if not beyond. The

RAF website describes its role as:

“a multi-role machine capable of

conducting missions including

air-to-surface, electronic warfare,

intelligence gathering and air-to-air

simultaneously.

“F-35B combines advanced sensors

and mission systems with low

observable technology, or ‘stealth’,

which enables it to operate undetected

in hostile airspace. Its integrated

sensors, sensor fusion and data linking

provide the pilot with unprecedented

situational awareness. The pilot is able

to share information gathered by the

jet with other platforms using secure

data links, and/or use the information

to employ weapons or electronic

countermeasures.”

The F-35 is named after the

famous twin-engined, twin-boomed,

Lockheed P-38 Lightning long-range

fighter. The RAF ordered that type

in 1940, but initial flight trials in the

USA and then at Boscombe Down

were highly critical of its performance

and it was not adopted. The version

issued to Britain lacked turbo-

superchargers; P-38s so equipped gave

exceptional service with the USAAF.

The RAF does not need to allude

FROM 2018

LOCKHEED MARTIN

LIGHTNING IILIGHTNING IILIGHTNING II

1918 2018

Above

The third F-35B for

the RAF, ZM137, had its

maiden fl ight at Fort

Worth, Texas, on

April 1, 2013.

COURTESY AND COPYRIGHT

LOCKHEED MARTIN

Right

One of only three P-38

Lightnings delivered

to the RAF, AF106, was

tested by the Aeroplane

and Armament

Experimental

Establishment at

Boscombe Down

in May 1942.

PETER GREEN COLLECTION