'Tearing their hair out': No new F-35 jets for HMS Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth will arrive this decade
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F-35B fighter jets are an essential component of the UK Carrier Strike Group - operations involving Royal Navy aircraft carriers
Frustrated pilots will be “tearing their hair out” as new fighter jets are not expected to be delivered this decade.
Air Marshal Tim Jones, the deputy chief of the defence staff, told the Public Accounts Committee that new F-35 fighter jets will be severely delayed. Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown, Conservative, described the situation as “dire”.
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F-35B aircraft are a critical component of operations involving the Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth. They are currently being used to great effect as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group on Operation Firecrest.
Britain aims to spend billions on 15 of the these warplanes, and 12 on F-35A variants that are capable of utilising nuclear weapons. There are 47 jets currently in service, with AM Jones stating that new aircraft will not be procured until the 2030s.
In response, Sir Geoffrey said: “We keep being given this answer. The squadrons at RAF Marham must be tearing their hair out. When are we likely to know what the total numbers of [F-35] A – I think the aim was for 12 – and total numbers of [F-35] B – I think the aim was 11? When are those likely to be procured?”
AM Jones said the “exact profile” of how the stealth jets would be delivered needed to be “worked through” with defence industry partners “over the next few months”. He added: “We have a good idea that this will be in the early 2030s, ranging into later in the decade, towards the mid 2030s once the entire profile is delivered.
“But we need to work that through with industry because until we can confirm the exact delivery profile, I’m unable to give detail on that.”
Sir Geoffrey responded: “That is a fairly dire answer, isn’t it? When we’re struggling to put one squadron on to one of our aircraft carriers, they’re having to make do and mend. Surely we can do better than having to wait until the mid 2030s? That’s a long time to have to wait for additional aircraft, isn’t it?”
The Daily Telegraph reports that the F-35 fleet is facing significant issues. These include a lack of spare parts too few qualified technicians, and a critical shortage of trained pilots. An initial order of 48 F-35B jets was completed, though one crashed into the sea during an accident on HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2021.