History was made on the 74th anniversary of D-Day, when the UK’s first four F-35B Lightning IIs were delivered to their new home, RAF Marham. AIR International was there
ON A warm sunny day in June hundreds of aviation enthusiasts made their way to RAF Marham in Norfolk to catch a glimpse of Britain’s new combat aircraft, the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. Many of them made the journey the next day too because the huge operation to bring the aircraft across the Atlantic from their erstwhile base, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina was postponed for 24 hours because of bad weather on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Although the Lightning is eminently capable of flying in bad weather, ejecting into a violent ocean is rarely survivable so the sea state had to be taken into consideration by the mission planners. For a while it looked as though the British public would have to wait another day because the storm that caused Tuesday’s delay had moved and there were fears the weather was still too bad. Happily, the transatlantic tankertrail of two Voyager tankers, KC2 ZZ330 and KC3 ZZ335, one Atlas C1 ZM401, which was providing search and rescue cover for the formation, and the four Lightnings were able to skirt around the weather and commit to crossing the pond. Delivery day occurred on June 6, the 74th anniversary of D-day, the day when the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation began with the allied landings on the beaches of Normandy under Operation Overlord.
At the end of a 4,000-mile (6,440km) flight and years of planning, the four jets appeared overhead their new home at just after 20:00hrs and, after a run-in and break, made short, rolling landings. After taxiing to the ramp from where they will operate until the infrastructure to support them is ready, the four pilots performed post-flight checks and shutdown. Under Project Anvil, hundreds of millions of pounds are being spent on new infrastructure including hangars, workshops, operations headquarter for the new Lightning Force, and three strengthened landing pads for vertical landings.
Unsurprisingly, the welcome committee comprised as well as journalists and service personnel and their families, the great and the good from industry, the military and politicians including Minister for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Guto Bebb MP who told us: “The F-35 will form the backbone of our air power for decades to come, and its arrival in the UK during the 100th anniversary of the RAF marks a truly historic moment.” Flight-lead Wing Commander John Butcher, OC 617 Squadron said: “It was a good flight across from the United States, the weather was in our favour and it felt absolutely brilliant bringing the jets back here today. When you are looking to have the fighting edge you need F-35 and certainly F-35B - working Royal Air Force and Royal Navy side by side - to give us that combat air advantage and we can do it from the land and sea.” The pilots were welcomed by the chiefs of both services destined to use the F-35, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones remarked: “Ever since aircraft first operated to and from ships, the Royal Navy has been at the forefront of maritime aviation and the arrival of our first F-35Bs in the UK today, flown by both RAF and Fleet Air Arm pilots, is another important milestone on the way to restoring our place as leaders in the field of aircraft carrier operations.” Reflecting the future use of the Lightning by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, one of the four jets was flown by Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Adam Hogg who reminded everyone of the effort required to achieve the milestone: “We may be the pilots that arrived here today, but there’s been a lot of people [working] to enable us getting here.” Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier told us: “It’s a historic moment and I’ve congratulated the pilots on a long transit across the Atlantic but it’s great to see them here at RAF Marham. Nine tanker brackets, 4,000 miles across the Atlantic - what that demonstrates is the skill and professionalism of our pilots and our engineers.”
A lot of effort
Three Voyager tankers and one A400M Atlas were deployed to take the four F-35Bs from their former home base in South Carolina to the UK.
Voyager KC2 ZZ330, radio call sign Ascot 9101, launched from Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina and provided aerial refuelling support to the Lightnings during the first three-and-a-half hours of the trail along the eastern seaboard of North America to a position off the coast of Newfoundland. Departing Gander, Newfoundland, Voyager KC3 ZZ335 ‘Ascot 9102’ and Voyager KC2 ZZ331 ‘Ascot 9103’ rendezvoused with Lightnings ZM145, ZM146, ZM147, ZM148 ‘Ascot 9511 flight’ before committing to the Atlantic crossing, whereupon the original tanker, Ascot 9101, landed at Gander. Atlas C1 ZM401 ‘Ascot 4085’, launched from Bangor, Maine, to provide search and rescue and logistics support across the Atlantic. The Atlas and the two Voyagers landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Lightning programme
Britain has a requirement for 138 F-35s and has so far committed to 48 F-35Bs at a unit cost of $100 million for each jet. However, as always predicted by Lockheed Martin, costs are coming down as manufacturers improve production methods. According to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in June 2018, in 2012 it took 107,988 man-hours to build an F-35B but only 57,152 in 2017. The figures for the F-35A are even better, down from 108,355 to 41,541 over the same timescale. Fewer man-hours equates to cheaper jets. The GAO report states: “These improvements in airframe manufacturing efficiency indicate that manufacturing processes are stabilizing and coming under control, and production capability is improving.”
AIR International has listed both types because it is by no means certain that the 90 jets for which funds have not yet been allocated will be F-35Bs. The MoD is conducting a study to identify the best mix of aircraft for the future. Claims in the mainstream media recently that Lightning will be cancelled in favour of more Typhoons can almost certainly be dismissed. The ageing Typhoon is itself a very expensive aeroplane, and will be even more costly if further developed, compared with Lightning. A future mix of F-35A and F-35B is a very real possibility for Britain.
As of today, the UK has 15 F-35Bs in service split between three units; No.17 Squadron based at Edwards Air Force Base, California as part of the F-35 Joint Operational Test Team (3), Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina (8), and No.617 Squadron at RAF Marham, Norfolk (4).
Three UK aircraft will remain at Beaufort with VMFAT-501 as part of an agreement between the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense designed to accelerate the US Marine Corp’s training output now that the Brits are leaving, and also to support ongoing UK pilot training until the UK’s Lightning OCU is stood-up at Marham in 2019.
The joint US-UK operation has been running at Beaufort since VMFAT-501 moved to the South Carolina base from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in the summer of 2014. The UK’s first cadre of F-35B pilots were trained by VMFAT-501 at Eglin.
Before the end of August five more Lightnings will make the journey from Beaufort to Marham. The next unit to re-form will be the Lightning Operational Conversion Unit, No.207 Squadron, in 2019, followed by 809 Naval Air Squadron in 2021.
No.617 Squadron’s initial operating capability (IOC) from land bases is expected to be achieved by December. The UK Lightning Force will not define what it’s IOC definition is but logically involves having at least six aircraft available to conduct a similar mission set as the US Marine Corps; defensive and offensive counter air (using AIM-120 AMRAAM and ASRAAM missiles), air interdiction and close air support (using the Paveway IV precision-guided munition), and suppression (using the APG-81 AESA radar and ASQ-239 electronic warfare system) and destruction of enemy air defences (using the Paveway IV).
The various MoD agencies involved in the first delivery were all on the same page when emphasising the June 6 delivery was two months early (of the MoD’s original programme) which gives Britain a head start with its impressive new weapons system.
