Lightning jets could land in UK next week

Britain’s cutting-edge F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets are expected to touch down on UK soil from as early as next week.

The UK’S supersonic aircraft have been stationed in America since their manufacture, being tested and used for training by Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots.

Four of the jets, based at US Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, are due to cross the Atlantic in the first trip, with five following by the beginning of August.

Since their UK arrival was announced by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson earlier this month, the jets are being prepared for the trip, which could happen any time from 5 June, it is understood.

Wing Commander Scott Williams, the UK’S senior representative in Beaufort, said the exact date of the move is yet to be confirmed and will depend on a number of factors including the weather.

Ahead of their imminent landing at RAF Marham in Norfolk, he said: “There is definitely a feeling that we have arrived very quickly to a point where we are comfortable to take some of our aeroplanes and send them back to the UK so that 617 Squadron can declare initial operating capability at the end of the year.

“For us, there is definitely a sense that the time is now right, we are ready.

“For those that will remain behind, obviously we are going to be sad to see our colleagues leave, but we know that a year from now everyone is going to be back together at RAF Marham and building the UK Lightning Force.”

Wg Cdr Williams is also the officer commanding 207 Squadron which will become the UK’S F-35 training unit from July 2019.

Britain currently has 15 F-35BS – the short take off and vertical landing variant of the jets – based in the US, and has pledged to purchase 138 in total.

In Beaufort there are currently 120 UK personnel and 11 British jets which are used and flown in conjunction with the 19 stationed there and owned by the US Marines.

The jets from both countries sit in a mixed line under sun shades in the blazing South Carolina heat – operated by both the US and UK as one training unit, VMFAT-501, nicknamed “The Warlords”.

Inside the main hangar, the warplanes are also jointly maintained and flown.

Praising the set-up in which both countries work alongside each other, Wg Cdr Williams said: “It is really good, we have observed and been a part of the daily issues here to know how we can firefight those when we go home.”