The UK will soon receive three more units of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter aircraft. The plane is moving from Texas to the United Kingdom, with a stop in South Carolina, and as it crosses the Atlantic, the warplanes receive support from the English Voyager tanker.
Three more units of the aircraft are expected to be delivered later this year, and seven more in 2023. The Royal Air Force (UK Air Force) plans to deliver 47 aircraft by 2025.
With the arrival of the F-35Bs this year, the British Navy will have 25 fighter jets with short takeoff and vertical landing capability (Stovl).
47 aircraft are part of the first set – which began delivery in 2015. However, one in the 60s and one in the 80s may change to be true.
A number of RAF F-35B Lightning aircraft from the 617 Squadron, leaving its RAFMarhamMedia RAFAkrotiri Exercise Lightning Dawn to spend six weeks as part of its first overseas training. OC617Sqn# 21st CenturyRAF
Read more about exercise: https://t.co/SS6M93L0Ulpic.twitter.com/tbxumxeJEI
– Royal Air Force (oyRoyalAirForce) May 24, 2019
“The first Sea Lord said 60 F-35s, so there could be up to 80 for 4 deployable forces.”, A security insider told the UK Defense Magazine.
However, the current fleet is already low. In late 2021, the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrying the F-35B crashed in the Mediterranean. The pilot was released safely, and the warplane was rescued a few days later with US assistance.
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