A Legacy of Innovation
In 2024, the United Kingdom Government reaffirmed its commitment to its program of record of 138 F-35 aircraft to be operated by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. The UK’s first F-35Bs, arrived at RAF Marham in June 2018 to form 617 Sqn ‘Dambusters’, while 207 Squadron, the UK’s Operational Conversion Unit, was stood up in the same location in 2019. Most recently 809 Naval Air Squadron ‘The Immortals’ was re-established at Marham in December 2023.
The UK’s 35th F-35 arrived in the UK in March 2024, the same month that ‘Dambusters’ F-35B’s took part in Steadfast Defender - NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War – demonstrating the jet’s interoperability with NATO allies and capability delivered from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. This interoperability has been clearly demonstrated by RAF pilots training at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, where British pilots and maintainers were embedded with the U.S. Marine Corps and their fleet of F-35Bs, and later at RAF Marham where further training and sustainment is delivered.
Program Milestones
