The British defense ministry says there is no danger to the UK’s plan to achieve initial operating capability (IOC) from land bases with the
, even though none of the UK-based aircraft has flown for more than a month.
F-35 sorties finally took place on Aug. 29, 34 days after the last training sortie was performed on July 26. This does not include the arrival of the second batch of five aircraft which crossed the Atlantic from Beaufort, South Carolina, on Aug. 3.
So far, the vast majority of the flights have been performed by the first batch of four aircraft which arrived on June 6, although these have been limited in number. An Aerospace DAILY analysis of the flights using social media reports suggests that the UK-based fleet had flown just 21 or 22 flights up to July 26.
The discrepancy comes from whether two or three aircraft flew on July 3.
Some nine sorties were flown in support of air show display flyovers marking the centenary of the
over London as well as at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford and the Farnborough International Airshow. Many of the training flights have been local in nature, flying practice diversions to other airfields as well as performing the first vertical landings. So far, there has been no night flying performed or aerial refueling practiced.
The UK defense ministry insists the break in flying is a result of extensive maintenance checks and personnel on leave. But when the first batch of aircraft arrived in June, crews said they were expecting an intensive flying regime to achieve (IOC).
With the majority of the UK’s fleet of 15 F-35s now based in the UK, there remains questions about how the UK Lightning force has managed to maintain pilot currency. Some of this can be done in the high-fidelity simulators. But none of these are yet operational in the Integrated Training Center (ITC) being constructed at RAF Marham, the UK’s F-35 main operating base.
The UK defense ministry did not answer Aerospace DAILY’s questions on pilot currency, but said the installation of the four simulators is nearing completion.
“After bringing the jets home two months ahead of schedule, our pilots continue to rise to the challenges of a demanding program as they prepare for the workup of 617 Squadron next month,” the defense ministry said in a statement. “Flying operations have already begun this week and the Lightning Force is on track to be operational by the end of the year.”
However, the UK is known to have had some initial teething problems with the
’s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS).
When the first batch of four F-35s arrived in June, it was another three weeks before the first aircraft took to the air on June 28. Wg. Cdr. John Butcher, the commander of 617 Sqdn., the first British F-35 front-line unit, was asked about the delay by a local newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press. He responded that data for the aircraft had to be moved across from U.S. servers to the British server and then verified for airworthiness before the aircraft could be accepted onto the squadron.
“We have had some bits of missing data during that transfer, so we have been working through that,” he told the newspaper. “None of it is anything that we didn’t plan for in terms of contingency, so we have been working through those in a methodical fashion to make sure that we can get the jets into a serviceable state to take them flying in a safe manner.”
The Marham base has been undergoing extensive rebuilding work to prepare for the F-35’s arrival. But this has not impacted flight operations, with the RAF’s Panavia Tornados flying regularly from the airfield without hindrance.
Meanwhile, the UK has announced the first flights of a UK aircraft fitted with UK weapons.
Images released by the defense ministry on Aug. 28 and taken in mid-August show one of the UK’s F-35Bs based at Edwards AFB, California, carrying the MBDA Asraam air-to-air missile.
This is understood to mark the start of operational testing of the two British-made weapons destined for the aircraft as part of the Block 3F software release, which also includes the
Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. The defense ministry says UK-based aircraft will carry out their own flights with weaponry in the “next few months” and that the work will support the plan to achieve IOC in December.
