The first four Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings to be based in the UK arrived at RAF Marham yesterday after a 24-hour delay to their transatlantic journey by bad weather. The UK previously took delivery of the F-35Bs at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, and kept them there for training. Another five will follow by the end of August, as No. 617 Squadron works to achieve initial operating capability (IOC) from land bases by the end of the year. It is being jointly manned by Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy personnel as the squadron will later go to sea on the UK’s new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.   

The weather delay caused adverse comment, but the RAF was unwilling to waive a peacetime safety rule that long overwater transits should not take place in sea states above five, due to the difficulty of locating and rescuing a pilot who has ejected. Also, the crosswind was above limits at one of the emergency diversion airfields en route. The 4,000-mile formation flight took 8.5 hours and included nine top-up aerial refuelings from three RAF Voyager (A330MRTT) tankers. 

Three British F-35Bs remain at Beaufort and will be joined by more, as a second squadron forms there in July 2019. The UK also keeps in the U.S. the first three F-35Bs that it acquired, at Edwards AFB for test and evaluation purposes. Three of the jets from Marham are due to lead a flypast of 100 RAF aircraft over London on July 10 to mark the service’s centenary.

Air Chief Marshal Stephen Hillier, head of the RAF, said that the F-35 was “the most advanced and dynamic fighter jet in our history. If you can’t see us coming, you won’t be able to stop us.”

Admiral Philip Jones, head of the Royal Navy, said: “these extraordinary jets will sit at the heart of our country’s globally deployable expeditionary forces.”

In recent months, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has clarified the cost of acquiring the stealthy fighters. By 2026, it will have spent £9.1 billion ($12.2 billion) on

• participating in the System Design and Demonstration (SDD) phase: £1.9 billion ($2.5 billion)
• Production, Sustainment, and Follow-on Development (PSFD): £7.2 billion ($9.6 billion).

This sum includes a major investment at the Marham airbase, including new operations, training, and maintenance facilities. It also includes the planned purchase of 48 aircraft by 2026. The UK has bought 17 F-35Bs so far, with the unit recurring flyaway cost (URFC) reducing from $161 million each for the first pair in low rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 3, to $122.3 million each for the three in LRIP 10. The UK is planning to buy one more jet in LRIP 11, which is still being negotiated, and 17 more in the first multi-year buy that is planned to follow. Lockheed Martin officials have told the MoD that it hopes to reduce the URFC of an F-35B in the MYB to $105 million.  

The Marham base has been home to the RAF’s last remaining Tornado GR.4 strike aircraft. Two squadrons still exist and have been deploying aircraft to Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus for airstrikes on Iraq and Syria. The last Tornado will be withdrawn at the end of March next year.