UK receives first F-35 stealth fighter jet from US

[mhm]

It has been a long and expensive wait, but Britain has now been handed its first Joint Strike Fighter jet, also known as the F-35.

Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond flew out in person to the searing heat of Fort Worth, Texas, for the official handover ceremony from its US manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

He says it is "the best warplane money can buy". But it is an eye-watering sum - the current cost of each jet is more than £100m.

After watching Britain's first F-35 take to the skies, Mr Hammond said "this is money well spent".

He said it would give the RAF and Royal Navy "a world class fighting capability" with the ability to "project power" off the two new aircraft carriers now under construction, anywhere in the world.

So is it worth it? The UK is buying the short take-off and vertical landing variant - STOVL for short.

Full story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18919388

[viking9]

"It means a pilot can enter and leave a war zone while staying safe. UK Lightning II Requirements Manager Wing Commander Willie Hackett on the plane's development. In theory, it can also carry a heavier weapons load than the Harrier, although the F-35B "jump-jet" is the least capable of the three versions of the new plane."

Shouldn't the "in theory" appear at the beginning of this quote? After all it is "not as stealthy as the F-22".

"The hope at the Ministry of Defence is that, with time, the cost of the plane will come down and the technical problems will be resolved - and that, in the end, this will not go down in history as another expensive MoD mistake."

Dream on! Still, perhaps they can recover some of the costs by advertising on that big dustbin lid behind the cockpit.