‘DAMBUSTERS’ ARRIVE AT RAF MARHAM
PILOTS FROM THE Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm delivered four British F-35B Lightnings to their permanent main operating base at RAF Marham, Norfolk, on June 6, two months ahead of the original delivery schedule. The Atlantic crossing was supported by three Royal Air Force Voyager tankers and each of the fighters performed nine aerial refuelings during the 8.5-hour fight. A further five aircraft are scheduled to make the crossing to the UK before the end of August.
The Lightnings had been operating from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, where the British pilots are undergoing training with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501. The UK has received 15 F-35Bs to date and No 617 Squadron ‘Dambusters’ was formally reactivated at a ceremony held in Washington DC on April 17. A cadre of British personnel and aircraft will remain at MCAS Beaufort in order to form No 207 Squadron, which will serve as the UK’s operational conversion unit for the F-35 and will relocate to RAF Marham in July 2019.
Under current plans the ‘Dambusters’ are expected to achieve initial operational capability from land bases with the F-35B by the end…
