TSAMTO, November 23. Three new fifth-generation F-35B Lightning-2 multi-purpose fighters arrived in the UK, which increased the total number of received vehicles of this type to 30 units.
Currently, 26 aircraft are located in the UK, three more are used in the USA for testing and training pilots.
As reported by the resource Ukdefencejournal.org.uk, seven more aircraft are to be delivered in 2023, and by the end of 2025 it is planned to complete the delivery of all 47 fighters of the first tranche (another plane crashed). After that, the Ministry of Defense intends to purchase a second batch of F-35.
According to the British Ministry of Defense's guidance document titled "Defense in a Competitive Era," the UK intends to increase the F-35 fleet beyond the 48 aircraft it has already ordered. Along with this, the Typhoon fighter fleet will be increased and modernized.
The exact number of aircraft purchased at the second stage is unknown. Last year, the Minister of State for Defense Procurement, Jeremy Queen, confirmed that the right to purchase the second tranche of the F-35 was delegated to the Air Force Command as part of the annual budget cycle. At the same time, the target of 138 fighters is still maintained, despite earlier statements about the reduction.
According to the UK Defense Journal insider from the Ministry of Defense, at the beginning of 2022, the former commander of the British Navy said during a webcast that the UK intends to purchase "about 60" F-35B aircraft, and then "possibly up to 80 more" for the four squadrons being formed.
In May 2022, during parliamentary hearings, Air Marshal Richard Knighton announced ongoing negotiations on the supply of 26 F-35B, which will increase the number of 5th generation aircraft in service to 74 units. It is assumed that the exact number of purchased aircraft of the second batch will be announced in 2025.
As reported by TSAMTO, the UK officially announced its intention to purchase the F-35 Lightning-2 in 2006. The agreement for the supply of three F-35Bs for the purpose of participating in the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (Initial Operational Test and Evaluation – IOT&E) was signed by the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom in March 2009. The first F-35B was officially adopted in July 2012. Subsequently, two more aircraft were delivered, which are used in the United States.
In July 2012, the Government announced its decision to purchase the first batch of 48 production aircraft. The signing of the contract for the supply of the first 4 F-35B "Lightning-2" fighters was announced by the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain in November 2014. The "Strategic Review of Defense and Security for 2015" included the intention to purchase up to 138 aircraft for the British Armed Forces in total.
It is planned that the first 48 fighters will be delivered in the F-35B variant. A decision on the version of subsequent aircraft will be made later. The first combat squadron F-35 of the British Air Force (617th) was formed in 2016 at the US Marine Corps training center "Beaufort" (pcs.South Carolina). The aircraft will be gradually relocated to the Marham Airbase in Norfolk, starting from June 2018. The second combat unit (809th Naval Aviation Squadron) will be formed by 2023.
