UK Takes Delivery of First F35

Britain has taken delivery of its first F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Defence secretary Philip Hammond formally received the plane, to be known as a Lightning II, in a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

The handover of the aircraft is high profile, because after Britain is the first international customer to get its hands on one. Until now only the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have had access to the early models.

We don’t yet know how exactly much each plane will cost the UK taxpayer, although it is certainly well in excess of a hundred million pounds. It’s also unclear how many Britain can afford.

Once in service they’ll form the backbone of a new British carrier strike capability: returning fast jets to the Royal Navy’s arsenal. That means that in a sense the F35 will replace the now retired Harrier.

But it’s a massively different plane: the Lightning II is supersonic and stealthy with dramatically increased range and payload.

UK industry has benefited from what’s the most expensive project in Pentagon history: large parts of the plane including the tail section are made in Britain.

This first British jet is now on its way to Florida for flight testing and crew training.

The first full production models should enter service in around 2018.

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