F-35 Lightning II F-35Bs in flight. The
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack,
reconnaissance, and air defence missions with stealth capability. It was selected for the UK's
Joint Combat Aircraft requirement in 2001, having been selected initially to replace the Royal Navy's
BAE Sea Harrier fighter, and latterly the existing
Panavia Tornado GR.4 and
Harrier GR.9 fleets (the latter already having been retired in late 2010), operating principally from the
Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. It will be the main component of the RAF's manned strike capability, and marks the return of a carrier-borne strike capability for the
Fleet Air Arm for the first time in nearly a decade. The version initially selected was the
Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35, known as the F-35B. In October 2010,
David Cameron announced that the UK would change their order to the F-35C
CATOBAR carrier variant for both the RAF and Navy. The F-35C variant features larger wings with folding wingtips and larger wing and tail control surfaces for improved low-speed control. This gives it a greater range and the ability to carry a larger and more diverse payload than the F-35B. In May 2012, it was announced that the government had reverted to the previous plan to operate the STOVL F-35B, due to rising estimated shipbuilding costs associated with the CATOBAR variant F-35C, and an earlier estimated in-service date for the F-35B. The delivery of the UK's first F-35B was made on 19 July 2012 at
Fort Worth, Texas, for flight trials by the RAF and Royal Navy. In 2015, the government's
Strategic Defence and Security Review stated that the Government planned to order 138 F-35s, with 24 of them to be available for carrier duties by 2023. On 10 January 2019, initial operating capability for the UK's F-35B was announced. The UK is committed to improving its F-35Bs to Block 4 standard, however, the actual number of improved jets is yet to be known. In April 2022, the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Richard Knighton, told the House of Commons Defence Select Committee that the MoD was in discussions to purchase a second tranche of 26 F-35B fighters. Subsequent reports, later confirmed, suggested that this second tranche order would be completed in 2033. Plans for frontline F-35B squadrons envisage a total of three frontline (RAF and RN) squadrons each deploying 12-16 aircraft. Two F-35B squadrons have been formed so far, one within the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy (809 sqn), and one within the RAF (617 sqn). In surge conditions 24 F-35s might be deployed on one of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, but a routine deployment would likely involve 12 aircraft. A September 2022 reported indicated that three additional aircraft were expected to be delivered in 2022 (delivery took place in November 2022), seven in 2023, four in 2024 and seven in 2025, completing the delivery of the planned 48 tranche 1, one of which was lost in 2021. This delivery schedule was superseded, and only 38 F-35s were in the UK inventory as of May 2025. The delivery of the final F-35Bs in the Tranche 1 order was finally completed in March 2026. At the end of 2022, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace reported that the RAF and Royal Navy also faced a considerable challenge in providing even the existing modest F-35B fleet with qualified pilots. In late 2022 there were only 30 qualified British pilots for the F-35, plus three exchange pilots from the United States and Australia. The average wait time for RAF trainee Typhoon and F-35 pilots, after completing the Military Flying Training System, was approximately 11 and 12 months respectively. A further gap of 68 weeks existed between completing Basic Flying Training and beginning Advanced Fast Jet Training. In February 2023, the
Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, stated that the number of F-35 pilots had grown to 34 UK pilots with a further 7 to complete training by August 2023. In 2025 the
National Audit Office reported that a consistent shortage of pilots remained, along with other shortages including of F-35 engineers. At the
2025 NATO Summit at
The Hague, Prime Minister
Keir Starmer announced that the RAF will acquire twelve nuclear capable F-35A fighter jets. According to the
MoD, the F-35As will be based at
RAF Marham and used in a training role on a "day-to-day basis", due to their increased flight time and decreased maintenance requirements. The aircraft will be available to deploy in a tactical nuclear strike role to bolster NATO deterrence and to complement the capabilities of the Royal Navy's
ballistic missile submarines. It is planned that the UK's pending Tranche 2 order for F-35 aircraft will comprise 15 F-35Bs and 12 F-35As. The F-35As are planned for delivery by 2030. In October 2025, the
Public Accounts Committee stated that the MOD did not know how much it would cost to operate the F-35As with plans "at an early stage". In 2025 the MOD had more than tripled its previous overall F-35 whole-life cost estimate to the new out of service date of 2069 to £57 billion, excluding non-equipment costs such as personnel, fuel and infrastructure, following a National Audit Office audit. While officially the U.K. was still committed to acquiring 138 F-35s, now composed of both A and B variants, these will be acquired over a thirty-year period with 74 (both As and Bs) planned to be in service by 2033.
Current and future units •
No. 617 Squadron RAF,
RAF Marham Operational Conversion Units •
No. 207 Squadron RAF, RAF Marham
Operational Evaluation Units •
No. 17 Squadron RAF,
Edwards Air Force Base Typhoon It was indicated in the
2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review that the RAF would retain its Tranche 1 Typhoons and use them to stand up an additional two squadrons. It was also announced that the aircraft would remain in service until 2040, ten years longer than previously planned. The 2021 defence white paper announced that the Tranche 1 Typhoons would instead be withdrawn from service by 2025, apart from four based in the
Falkland Islands which might be retained. For the more advanced Typhoons remaining in service, the Government also promised to invest further in Typhoon air-to-ground capabilities and in a new
active electronically scanned array(AESA) radar, as well as completing integration of the
Storm Shadow and
Brimstone missiles with the Typhoon. 107 Tranche 2 and 3 Typhoons will be equipped via "Project Centurion", allowing them to launch
Meteor missiles, Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles.
Frontline Units as of 2021 •
1(F) Squadron,
RAF Lossiemouth •
2(AC) Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth •
3(F) Squadron,
RAF Coningsby •
6 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth •
IX(B) Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth •
XI Squadron, RAF Coningsby •
12 Squadron, RAF Coningsby •
1435 Flight,
RAF Mount Pleasant Operational Conversion Units •
29 Squadron, RAF Coningsby
Operational Evaluation Units •
41 Squadron, RAF Coningsby
Combat Air Strategy and Team Tempest At the 2018
Farnborough Airshow,
UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced
Team Tempest, a joint program office consisting of government divisions alongside
BAE Systems,
Leonardo S.p.A.,
MBDA and
Rolls-Royce that would be developing a new design of fighter aircraft with £2 billion (
US$2.6 billion) in funding, by 2025. This will develop new technologies and means of production under the
Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI). In December 2022, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy announced that they would merge their sixth-generation fighter projects forming the
Global Combat Air Programme, with the fighter entering service from 2035. == Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ==