A Legacy of Innovation
The Royal Air Force and Royal Navy plan to operate 138 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft. Their training will take place at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, where British pilots and maintainers will be embedded with the U.S. Marine Corps and their fleet of F-35Bs. With eight aircraft currently in country at RAF Marham, the UK's fleet of advanced fighters continues to grow.
Program Stats
- Aircraft Variant: F-35B
- Program of Record: 138 Aircraft
- Aircraft Delivered: 17
- Flight Hours: 4,900+
- Pilots Trained: 150
- Maintainers Training: ~40
Economic Impact
- Suppliers: 500+
- Contract Value: $13.5 Billion
- Jobs Supported: 20,000
- Value: 15% of the value of the 3,000+ jets planned will be built in the UK
Base Locations
- Royal Air Force Base Marham
Program Milestones
- 2012: UK's first F-35 delivered from Fort Worth, TX
- 2014: F-35 pilot completes first UK vertical landing
- 2016: F-35 makes Europe/UK debut at RIAT & Farnborough
- 2018: F-35s arrive for permanent basing at RAF Marham
- 2018: F-35 takes center stage at RAF 100 celebration
- 2018: UK completes weapons flight testing
- 2018: UK flexes carrier strike sea legs aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth
- 2018: UK MoD delcates F-35 land IOC