Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II (known only as Lightning in British service) is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. It is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions while also providing electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. It will be jointly operated by the RAF and the Royal Navy and with its ability to perform short take-offs and vertical-landings (STOVL), can operate from the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.[124] Originally a total of 138 Lightnings were planned,[125][126][127] however the 2021 Defence Command Paper amended this to a commitment to increase the fleet beyond the current order of 48.[122] By December 2020, twenty-one F-35Bs had been delivered to the RAF.[128]

The first RAF squadron to operate the F-35B was No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron at Edwards AFB, California, accepting its first aircraft in 2014.[129] No. 617 (The Dambusters) Squadron officially reformed on 18 April 2018 as the first operational RAF Lightning squadron.[130] The first four aircraft arrived at RAF Marham from the United States in June 2018,[131] with a further five arriving in August 2018.[132] The Lightning was declared combat ready in January 2019.[133] The second UK based F-35 squadron to be formed was No. 207 Squadron on 1 August 2019 as the OCU for both RAF and Royal Navy pilots.[134][135]


 

 

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