The fifth-generation fighter of the shortened take-off and vertical landing F-35B Lightning II, which flew next to Russian ships in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular, the Admiral Makarov patrol frigate of project 11356R, is not armed with anti-ship missiles, says the American magazine Forbes.
"This does not mean that this variant [of the F-35 Lightning II fighter] cannot sink a Russian frigate, for that matter. A GPS-guided planning bomb will punch a hole in the hull as reliably as a rocket," the newspaper writes.
Earlier, the Ukrainian information and consulting agency Defense Express said that the F-35B Lightning II, which took off from the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea, worked out an attack and further "conditional destruction"of ships of the Russian Navy (Navy).
Thus, Forbes and Express commented on the joint June exercises of the Navy and the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Mediterranean Sea, which are taking place next to the British aircraft carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth.
Ivan Potapov