Summary

  • U.K. planned 138 F-35s, bought 48, delivered 35, aims at 75 by 2025.
  • New U.K. Labor gov’t reviews military spending, unclear on F-35 fate.
  • U.K. sticks with F-35B, vital for capabilities, amid changing orders.

The United Kingdom is one of the top export customers of the Lockheed Martin F-35 fifth-generation fighter. The British F-35B acquisition has faced a rocky road, with the number planned seeming to change constantly. They are vital for the British ability to maintain an expeditionary fighting capability. Separately, a British F-35B had a near-miss with a drone flying 36x above the legal height. The UK is also the only country to soley purchase the naval F-35B S/VTOL variant of the fighter for both its navy and air force.

The UK’s existing F-35 procurement plans

The UK has purchased 48 F-35Bs (the F-35 comes in three variants – the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C). Of these, 35 have been delivered (one was lost in an accident), and the last is expected to be delivered in 2025. The UK is expected to place another order for a future 27 F-35Bs to bring the total to 75 aircraft (deliveries are expected in 2033).

F-35B shutterstock_1727558353

Photo: Clive117 I Shutterstock

For a long time, the stated goal of the UK was to purchase 138 F-35s, but later, the government seemed to grow cold on that number and seemed to want to reduce it. However, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the UK affirmed its plan to eventually purchase 138 F-35s.

Britain’s F-35B procurement

Delivered:

35 (1 lost)

Ordered:

48

Next traunce:

27 (total 75)

Eventual goal:

138 total

In February 2024, Janes reported, “The United Kingdom has reasserted its commitment to procuring 138 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning combat aircraft, having recently shied away from the full program of record (PoR) number.

This was all under the previous Tory-led British government. On July 4, 2024, the Torys were swept from power in a landslide Labour victory, and now the new government is in the process of various military spending reviews. This immediately triggered speculation that the Labour government could axe the multi-national sixth-generation Tempest fighter jet program. Since then, the CEO of Leonardo (the Italian defense contractor in the program) stated he had assurances that the British would remain committed to the program.

Related

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Lockheed Martin has finally delivered the 1,000th F-35 after assembling the 1,000th F-35 in January.

Britain to scrap the F-35?

On July 28, 2024, the Tory-leaning British newspaper The Telegraph ran the somewhat provocative headline “Why Britain’s F-35s could be consigned to the scrap heap.” The sensational title seems out of step with the actual content of the article.

USMC Lockheed F-35B Lightning

Photo: USMC

F-35B Specs

Max take off weight:

around 60,000 lbs

Internal armament:

typically two AAMs and two bombs

Weapons payload:

15,000 lbs

Range:

more than 450nm (on internal fuel)

Max speed:

Mach 1.6

Powerplant:

1x Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan

The article states, “The jets, assembled in the US by Lockheed Martin, have been plagued by repeated delays and cost overruns, while the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has long been evasive about how many Britain will ultimately buy – and which service will own them. Now, as the new Labour Government carries out a sweeping defence review, critics have suggested that the UK could seek to halt its purchases to save money.

However, the article contained little reporting suggesting Labour was planning to consign “Britain’s F-35s to the scrap heap.” It also did not provide any evidence to suggest Labour would reduce the number of F-35s on order. The article is a little confusing as it suggests Britain wants to cancel the sixth-generation Tempest but also suggests that the superior Tempest would make the F-35 less attractive (the idea that the F-35 would be scrapped is predicated on the belief that the Tempest won’t be).

SF_F-35B Racing By Trailing Vapes_JAK

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

While Labour may adjust the number of F-35Bs to be procured, it is highly unlikely to cancel the F-35 program. The new government will undoubtedly adjust Britain’s military procurement, but it is unclear at this point what those adjustments will be. Labour has committed itself to increasing military expenditure to 2.5% of GDP “as soon as they can” (up from around 2.1% now).

Labour also claims the previous government “failed on defense” and that under the Torys, “200 aircraft have been taken out of service in the last five years alone.” It is possible Labour will increase the number of fighter jets to be purchased – time will tell.

Related

Beyond The US: 5 Countries Equipped With F-35 Lightning II

Many countries around the world are purchasing the F-35A and F-35B variants of the advanced F-35 fighter jet.

Britain’s F-35B fleet

Normally, countries (like the US, Italy, and Japan) will purchase the smaller F-35Bs to operate off their small aircraft carriers and the larger land-based F-35As for their air forces. However, in an effort to save money, the United Kingdom compromised and has only purchased F-35Bs to be jointly operated by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

UK fighter aircraft:

Typhoon Eurofighter:

107 (in service)

F-35B

34 (delivered)

This is sub-optimal for the Royal Air Force as the F-35Bs have a shorter range and smaller payload than their F-35A counterparts. In the Royal Air Force, the F-35Bs complement Britain’s fleet of 107 operational Typhoon Eurofighters. For comparison, the United States Air Force operates a fleet of around 1,000 F-16s alone. It also operates more F-22 Raptors than the number of fighter jets the British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force operate combined.

A Typhoon FGR 4 flying in the sky.

Photo: Jamie Hunter | Royal Air Force

The British F-35Bs operate from the Royal Navy’s fleet of two massive new 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth-class carriers. These carriers replace the Royal Navy’s former Illustrious-class light carriers, while the F-35Bs replace the iconic Royal Navy Sea Harriers. The Royal Navy Harriers became famous for their role in the 1982 Falklands War.

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