Article Posted on : - Jul 25, 2012

F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. A Lockheed Martin photo.

LONDON (BNS): The UK Ministry of Defence has received the first next-gen stealth combat aircraft F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) from Lockheed Martin.

The aircraft - short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of F-35 - was formally accepted at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas, by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond on 19 July.

The UK is the first country outside the US to receive the aircraft. The MoD in a statement said it plans to order a fourth Lightning II aircraft next year to add to the three already on contract.

The RAF and Royal Navy will conduct flight trials of the jets which will operate from land bases and from the sea.

Lightning II will be operational from land-based airfields from 2018, when it will also commence flight trials off the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier, it said.

The multi-role jet features the latest stealth and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) technology and represents the cutting-edge of combat aircraft design.

Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the US Air Force, the F/A-18 for the US Navy, the F/A-18 and AV8-B Harrier for the US Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.

Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.