<ul class="summary-list"><li>By 1943, the Allies had begun a strategic bombing campaign against Germany's war industry.</li><li>Bombing industrial centers was costly and often inaccurate, and the Allies sought better targets.</li></ul><p>At 9:28 p.m. on May 16, 1943, a squadron of 19 Avro Lancaster heavy bombers from the British <keyword id="12980238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-air-force" source="Orion">Royal Air Force</keyword> took off from their base in England and headed toward Germany.</p><p>By 1943, British bombing raids on Germany were common, but these <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-raf-with-bouncing-bombs-crippled-nazi-factories-in-ruhr-valley-2018-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombers were on a secret mission</a>, one so unique and demanding that a new squadron was created for it.</p><p><keyword id="14215932" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="no-617-squadron" source="Orion">No. 617 Squadron</keyword> was made up of some of the most experienced bomber pilots in the world. Their planes carried a specially designed munition made to destroy a specific target: dams.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-incredible-story-of-the-dambusters-raid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mission</a> would make legends of the pilots and their squadron, which remains one of the RAF's most celebrated units.</p><h2>Strategic bombing</h2><div type="image" title="Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster bombers" height="607" width="840" msid="92266362" hostid="261"></div><p>By 1943, Allied strategic bombing was seen as vital to defeating Nazi Germany. The most important targets were industrial — the factories, refineries, and oil storage facilities that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/black-thursday-for-wwii-us-army-air-force-over-schweinfurt-germany-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">armed and fueled the German war machine</a>.</p><p>The precision of aerial bombardments was limited by the technology of the time, however, and the best way to ensure those targets were hit was with carpet bombing.</p><p>Hundreds of bombers flew over cities and industrial centers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwii-bombing-so-intense-it-left-marks-on-edge-of-earth-atmosphere-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to drop thousands of tons of bombs</a>. Entire city blocks were destroyed and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-dresden-germany-bombing-world-war-ii-2018-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thousands of civilians were killed</a>. Allied bomber crews were also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-trying-to-identify-airmen-killed-in-ploesti-raid-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed or captured in great numbers</a>.</p><p>The British sought to make the bombing more accurate. One solution, proposed by Vickers aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis, was to go after the factories' energy sources, namely dams.</p><p>Dams provided hydroelectricity and water for factories and houses and supported agricultural development. The destruction of one dam, causing power outages and flooding, could ripple through German supply chains.</p><p>Targeting dams wasn't a new idea, but it was particularly hard because of their physical layout and composition. The Germans also set up robust defenses around important dams and <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/first-dambusters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adapted</a> to Allied efforts to destroy them.</p><h2>Bouncing bombs</h2><div type="image" title="Upkeep_in_Lancaster" height="1439" width="1919" msid="92266364" hostid="261"></div><p>Wallis focused on developing a weapon that could reliably breach a dam without requiring hundreds of bombers. His solution was a bomb that, when dropped from 60 feet at about 230 mph, would skip across the water, hit the dam, sink, and then detonate.</p><p>Wallis found that a bomb's explosive pressure would be magnified by water, which is denser than air. Wallis' bomb was designed to capitalize on that effect, with a cylindrical shape to keep it intact after hitting the water and ensure it had the backspin needed to maintain stability and reduce its angle of impact.</p><p>No. 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, was to conduct the raid during nighttime but practiced at all hours, putting blue plastic screens over their windows during daytime to simulate darkness.</p><div type="image" title="Dambuster Bouncing bomb training WWII" height="900" width="1200" msid="92266366" hostid="261"></div><p>The bombers themselves also needed to be modified. The special mounting and release system for the 9,000-pound <keyword id="14215934" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bouncing-bomb" source="Orion">bouncing bomb</keyword>, which also had a motor to generate backspin, was too big for the bomb bay, and its fuselage doors were removed. The bomber's lower guns were also removed to reduce drag.</p><p>Technicians also developed a system with two lights mounted underneath the bomber to shine on the surface of the water. The lights would overlap when the aircraft reached the 60-foot altitude at which the bomb could be safely dropped.</p><p>Their targets were the Möhne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley, Germany's industrial heartland. Only Gibson knew the targets during training. The rest of the squadron was told the day of the strike.</p><h2>'<keyword id="14215933" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dambusters" source="Orion">Dambusters</keyword>'</h2><div type="image" title="Avro Lancaster bomber No. 617 Squadron Dambusters raid" height="630" width="840" msid="92266368" hostid="261"></div><p>Operation Chastise, as the mission was known, began on the night of May 16. The Lancasters took two routes across the Netherlands and into Germany, flying as low as possible to avoid detection.</p><p>The journey proved hazardous. One Lancaster flew so low over the North Sea that a wave ripped its bomb clean off, forcing it to turn back. One was shot down over the Netherlands, and two more accidentally crashed into power lines.</p><p>The first target was Möhne dam. After several runs in which bombs fell short or bounced over the dam, at least two bombs managed to detonate successfully, breaking a large hole in the dam. The Eder dam was breached after three bomb drops, but the Sorpe dam held firm.</p><p>In all, eight Lancasters were lost. Of the 133 airmen involved, 53 were killed and three were captured — a fatality rate of 40%.</p><div type="image" title="German dam after No. 617 Squadron Dambusters attack" height="863" width="1151" msid="92266371" hostid="261"></div><p>But they had <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22510300" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrought havoc</a> on the Germans, flooding the Ruhr Valley with over 300 million tons of water.</p><p>All bridges within 30 miles of the Möhne dam were destroyed, as were 12 factories supporting the war effort. Another 100 factories were damaged. Mines and crops were flooded, and 400,000 tons of coal production was lost. Some industrial activity was halted for weeks.</p><p>The flooding also killed more than 1,500 people, most of them prisoners of war, laborers, and civilians.</p><p>The Germans were able to repair the dams within five months, but the labor and resources put into their reconstruction took away from other important projects, notably Hitler's Atlantic Wall, meant to defend against an Allied invasion.</p><h2>Lasting legacy</h2><div type="image" title="dambusters 617 raf F-35" height="2000" width="3000" msid="92266373" hostid="261"></div><p>No. 617 Squadron became known as the "Dambusters" and earned an elite reputation.</p><p>Later in the war the squadron supported the invasion of France and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-british-hunted-sunk-nazi-german-battleships-bismarck-tirpitz-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helped sink the German battleship Tirpitz</a> with <a href="https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/chronicles/the-tallboy-bomb-a-lancaster-delivered-earthquake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tallboy bombs</a>, another one of Wallis' specially designed weapons.</p><p>In 2018, the Dambusters became the first RAF squadron equipped with <keyword id="12272848" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35b" source="Orion">F-35B</keyword> stealth jets. In 2021, eight of them <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-ends-first-deployment-with-milestones-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deployed aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth</a> as part of the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword>'s Carrier Strike Group 21.</p><div type="image" title="UK navy F-35B Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier" height="788" width="1400" msid="92266376" hostid="261"></div><p>During the deployment, the strike group sailed 49,000 miles to the Pacific and back, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-already-training-for-anti-submarine-warfare-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visiting or exercising</a> with 44 countries.</p><p>The Dambusters' F-35Bs made over 3,000 deck landings and conducted the RAF's first F-35B combat operations when they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-joins-isis-fight-russia-watches-closely-2021-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struck ISIS targets</a> in Syria. One F-35B crashed while landing on the carrier in the Mediterranean, but the pilot survived and the aircraft was eventually <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-that-crashed-off-uk-carrier-has-been-recovered-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recovered</a>.</p><p>The Dambusters also <a href="https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-participates-in-norwegian-led-nato-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">participated</a> in Exercise Cold Response in March, flying north to take part in simulated air battles with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-command-and-control-of-aircraft-carriers-shows-combat-power-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Royal Navy's other new carrier</a>, HMS Prince of Wales.</p>

How the British air force's newest jets commemorate a daring and costly World War II bombing mission

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An <keyword id="12063092" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35c" source="Orion">F-35C</keyword> experienced a "landing mishap" on the deck of <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> USS Carl Vinson Monday.</li><li>The pilot ejected safely and is stable, but seven other sailors were injured.</li></ul><p>A US Navy pilot bailed out of an F-35C stealth fighter after a landing mishap on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson while it was conducting operations in the South China Sea, the sea service said Monday afternoon.</p><p>The unidentified pilot was recovered by a military helicopter and is in stable condition, but seven other Navy personnel were injured in the incident. Four were treated on the ship, while three had to be medically evacuated to a facility in the Philippines. The three who were airlifted off the ship for treatment are stable.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/2909515/f-35c-lightning-ii-has-landing-mishap-on-uss-carl-vinson/">Navy said that the incident</a> and its causes are currently under investigation. The status of the fighter jet is unknown, though it has been <a href="https://twitter.com/LMartinezABC/status/1485711763962220546">reported that it was lost at sea</a>.</p><p>USS Carl Vinson is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-carrier-deploying-with-f-35c-for-first-time-2021-8">first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with the F-35C</a>, a variant of the fifth-generation fighter designed specifically for carrier operations. The air wing features the Navy's first F-35C squadron, the "Argonauts" of Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 147.</p><p>Monday's landing mishap occurred as the carrier conducted operations alongside USS Abraham Lincoln, which recently deployed with not only the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-aircraft-carrier-deploys-first-female-commanding-officer-2022-1">first female carrier captain in US Navy history</a> but also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-f35c-pilot-says-stealth-jet-makes-carriers-more-lethal-2021-9">the first Marine Corps F-35C squadron</a>, the "Black Knights" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314.</p><div type="image" title="An F-35C Lightning II, assigned to the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Jan. 22, 2022" height="667" width="1000" msid="89102606" hostid="261"></div><p>The incident aboard the Carl Vinson Monday is not the first F-35 mishap aboard a carrier.</p><p>In November 2021, a British pilot flying an F-35B, a short-takeoff/vertical landing variant, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-pilot-flying-off-uk-aircraft-carrier-bails-out-2021-11">had to eject from the aircraft during takeoff</a> while the British Royal Navy's flagship carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth conducted flight operations in the Mediterranean.</p><p>The pilot, who was recovered and safely returned to the vessel, was assigned to the 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, which was operating alongside a US Marine Corps F-35B squadron at the time of the accident. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-that-crashed-off-uk-carrier-has-been-recovered-2021-12">mishap aircraft was reported recovered</a> in December.</p>

Pilot forced to bail out of F-35 stealth jet after 'landing mishap' on US Navy aircraft carrier in South China Sea

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In September 1944, the US Navy captured Ulithi Atoll and used it to support the Allied advance.</li><li>The remote atoll hosted hundreds of ships for repair and rearmament and allowed troops to rest.</li></ul><p>On September 16, 1944, as US Marines began a major assault <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/peleliu.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Peleliu</a>, Adm. William Halsey, commander of the US Navy's 3rd Fleet, ordered III Amphibious Corps to seize Ulithi Atoll, located 400 miles to the northeast.</p><p>Seven days later, soldiers from the 81st Infantry Division began landing on Ulithi's coral islets. The Japanese had abandoned the atoll a few months earlier, and the US landing was unopposed. Within two days the Americans had completed their initial unloading operations.</p><p>Located roughly between Guam and Palau and some 1,300 miles from Tokyo, Ulithi would have been easy to overlook, but within a few weeks it would become <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-visit-to-ulithi-planning-for-potential-fight-in-pacific-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">essential to the war effort</a>.</p><p>Hundreds of Allied ships would fill its lagoon and thousands of troops would occupy its islands. The remote coral outcropping would allow them to take the fight all the way to Japan's shores.</p><h2>The world's largest naval facility</h2><div type="image" title="Navy ships at Ulithi Atoll" height="600" width="800" msid="94502508" hostid="261" sizebytes="39216"></div><p>Ulithi is made up of 40 small islands, only four of which are inhabited, in an oblong ring around a lagoon of some 200 square miles in size and depths of 80 feet to 100 feet.</p><p>The atoll was spotted by US Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Chester Nimitz while looking over a map of the area to find a good location for an advance base to support future operations against the Philippines and Japan.</p><p>The Japanese had a weather station on the atoll and made limited use of its lagoon as a fleet anchorage and seaplane base earlier in the war, but they withdrew after coming under attack from US carrier aircraft. The Japanese saw no strategic value in Ulithi and didn't think it could be used against them.</p><p>US naval construction battalions, known as "<a href="https://www.military.com/history/7-important-things-know-about-first-us-navy-seabees.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seabees</a>," quickly proved them wrong, setting up Ulithi as an advance base almost immediately after landing in late September 1944.</p><div type="image" title="Navy sailors at Mogmog island in Ulithi atoll" height="1400" width="1866" msid="94502510" hostid="261" sizebytes="363936"></div><p>The Seabees lengthened an abandoned airstrip on Falalop Island to 1,200 yards, set up buoys to designate areas in the lagoon where ships could anchor, established a headquarters on Asor Island, and built a boat pool and 100-bed hospital on Sorlen Island.</p><p>The Navy also transferred Ulithi's native population to one of the smaller islands, where they lived for the rest of the war.</p><p>Mogmog, the largest and most habitable island, became a badly needed haven for US troops. It had ball fields, a band stand, a chapel, and a 1,200-seat theater. There was also an ice cream barge that could make 500 gallons of ice cream in one shift. At its peak, the island hosted 20,000 men, with roughly 9,000 there on any given day.</p><p>The lagoon was Ulithi's most valuable feature. Hundreds of ships, including entire carrier groups, anchored in its waters, alongside dozens of seaplanes. There they would be tended to by the small army of Navy engineers and logistics personnel assigned to <a href="https://cimsec.org/service-squadron-ten-and-the-great-western-base/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Service Squadron 10</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Navy aircraft carrier USS Randolph kamikaze damage" height="638" width="800" msid="94502513" hostid="261" sizebytes="108624"></div><p>Service Squadron 10 oversaw the rearming, resupplying, and repairing of Navy ships and aircraft, and otherwise supported the war effort's logistical needs.</p><p>In all, the unit had over 400 vessels, including repair ships, tankers, floating dry docks, crane ships, desalination ships, tugs, floating barracks, and floating workshops.</p><p>The ships and sailors of Service Squadron 10 allowed the Navy to continue fighting across the vast Pacific expanse. They were called Nimitz's "<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=p98DAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PA59#v=onepage&amp;q=secret%20weapon&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secret weapon</a>."</p><p>Ulithi became an extremely important base of operations. Any ship could be repaired — or mended enough to get back to a bigger base — and rearmed there and troops could rest and recuperate. Aircraft carriers moored there could continue launching rescue, reconnaissance, and bombing operations.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/75-years-ago-us-troops-began-invasion-of-the-philippines-2020-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">liberation of the Philippines</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battles-of-iwo-jima-okinawa-made-us-reconsider-japan-invasion-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa</a> were all launched from Ulithi. It also hosted preparations for the planned invasion of Japan's home islands.</p><div type="image" title="USS Mississinewa sinks at Ulithi" height="2603" width="3817" msid="94502515" hostid="261" sizebytes="906684"></div><p>By the end of the war, Ulithi was the world's largest naval facility, hosting as many as 617 vessels. The presence of so many ships also made Ulithi a target.</p><p>The Japanese repeatedly tried to attack it with aircraft, mini-subs, and even <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-japans-crazy-world-war-ii-kamikaze-suicide-torpedos-18691" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kaiten manned torpedoes</a>. On November 20, 1944, the Japanese <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-039/h-039-4.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sank</a> the fleet oiler <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/mississinewa-i.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USS Mississinewa</a>, killing some 63 sailors and officers.</p><p>On March 11, 1945, a long-range kamikaze plane struck the carrier <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/randolph-ii.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USS Randolph</a>, killing 25 men and wounding 106 more. Randolph was repaired at Ulithi and joined the invasion of Okinawa a month later.</p><p>Japan even sent its enormous <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japans-i400-plane-carrying-subs-meant-to-attack-us-wwii-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plane-carrying I-400-class submarines</a> to attack Ulithi. The subs were en route when Japan surrendered and had to return.</p><h2>Newfound relevance</h2><div type="image" title="US hospital ship USNS Mercy near Ulithi Atoll" height="1239" width="1652" msid="94502517" hostid="261" sizebytes="122490"></div><p>Ulithi was largely abandoned after the war, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-visit-to-ulithi-planning-for-potential-fight-in-pacific-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the atoll is taking on new relevance</a> as heightened tensions with China make another war in the Pacific more likely.</p><p>A forward base would be invaluable in such a conflict, especially since modern guided-missile warships cannot be rearmed while at sea.</p><p>The need for such a base is compounded by the fact that the US Navy would likely struggle to repair warships damaged in battle with great-power rivals like China or Russia, according to a Government Accountability Office report <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-not-ready-to-do-battle-damage-repairs-report-2021-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released last year</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Falalop Island in Ulithi Atoll" height="1333" width="2000" msid="94502519" hostid="261" sizebytes="492370"></div><p>The complexity of modern warship design coupled with US divestment of naval repair assets and the closure of many public shipyards after the Cold War make fixing battle-damaged ships more challenging.</p><p>The US Navy is already struggling with a repair backlog. Its surface ships currently face roughly 4,200 days of maintenance delays — effectively reducing the fleet by about 10 ships a year, <a href="https://news.usni.org/2022/09/20/chinese-fleet-expansion-pushing-u-s-navy-to-catch-up-on-maintenance-as-backlogs-persist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Navy officials said this month</a>.</p><p>With China continuing to build ships, expand the reach of its missile arsenal, and muster industrial capacity <a href="https://news.usni.org/2022/09/20/chinese-fleet-expansion-pushing-u-s-navy-to-catch-up-on-maintenance-as-backlogs-persist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three times</a> that of the US, the Navy would need every advantage it could get.</p>

How a remote lagoon and a 'secret weapon' allowed the US Navy to overwhelm Japanese forces during World War II

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Since 2017, the British Royal Navy has commissioned two new aircraft carriers into service.</li><li>HMS Queen Elizabeth, deployed for the first time last year, sailing to the Pacific and back.</li></ul><p>ABOARD HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH — The British Royal Navy has spent five years getting used to operating aircraft carriers again after a brief but notable absence of carriers from the fleet.</p><p>The Royal Navy now has two carriers in service. Its flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was commissioned in 2017 and is preparing to deploy with the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force. But HMS Prince of Wales, commissioned in 2019, is now in a dry dock awaiting what may be months of repairs after an "unusual fault" in one of its propeller shafts, leaving its future less certain.</p><p>HMS Queen Elizabeth's commissioning came three years after the retirement of HMS Illustrious and ended the Royal Navy's longest period without a carrier in service in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-british-aircraft-carriers-hit-major-milestone-at-same-time-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly a century</a>.</p><p>A year later, two F-35Bs landed on the ship, becoming the first fixed-wing jets <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-f-35s-land-on-british-hms-queen-elizabeth-aircraft-carrier-2018-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to land on a British carrier</a> since the UK <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/last-harrier-jet-leaves-ark-royal-2142482.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retired</a> its Harrier jets in 2010 and marking "a rebirth of our power to strike decisively from the seas anywhere in the world," the British defense secretary said at the time.</p><p>In the years between Illustrious' retirement and the commissioning of HMS Queen Elizabeth, British sailors and airmen continued training for carrier operations, preparing to fly the F-35B from a ship designed with the jet in mind.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS Illustrious" height="473" width="840" msid="95131301" hostid="261" sizebytes="66530"></div><p>The UK began a "long-lead skills program" in 2010, sending 300 aircraft handlers, aircraft controllers, and aircrew to <a href="https://www.beaufort.marines.mil/CommStrat/News/News-View/Article/628828/uk-pilots-and-maintainers-to-arrive-in-beaufort/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">embed with</a> US Navy and Marine Corps units, said Cmdr. Neil Twigg, air operations commander aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth.</p><p>"I flew F/A-18s with the US Navy for three years, embarked on US carriers, so that when I came back to the UK, I then helped to learn how to integrate the F-35 onto this ship," Twigg told Insider as the carrier visited New York City to host <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/atlantic-future-forum-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Atlantic Future Forum</a> on September 29.</p><p>The Royal Navy's "subject-matter" expertise in carrier operations shrunk but wasn't lost, Twigg said.</p><p>"We always had people there, but we didn't have the big, corporate knowledge during that 10-year period" between the departure of the Harriers and the beginning of workups with the new carrier and jets, Twigg added.</p><p>HMS Queen Elizabeth and its jets are more advanced their predecessors, but the Royal Navy has experience with short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing operations and is "really comfortable" conducting them, Cmdr. Sam Law said alongside Twigg during an interview in the ship's hangar bay.</p><p>"So, yes, there was a bit of a hiatus," added Law, the carrier's logistics commander, "but it's something we're used to."</p><h2>Not just a floating airfield</h2><div type="image" title="hms queen elizabeth new york" height="937" width="1249" msid="95131302" hostid="261" sizebytes="181156"></div><p>Following exercises around the UK — including <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/may/20/210520-carriers-at-sea-and-strike-warrior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first time</a> British jets had fired missiles at sea in 15 years — HMS Queen Elizabeth departed on its maiden deployment in May 2021.</p><p>The seven-month mission took the ships as far as Guam, with visits to 40 countries and exercises with dozens of militaries.</p><p>The carrier embarked with 18 F-35Bs — 10 from the US Marine Corps and eight from the Royal Air Force — which the Royal Navy <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/december/09/091221-hms-queen-elizabeth-returns-to-portsmouth-after-completing-global-mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">touted</a> as "the largest contingent" of fifth-generation jets "ever seen at sea." It required "a pretty sizable" logistical chain to sustain the 1,700 sailors and aircrew, the jets, and the ship itself, Law said.</p><p>"You can imagine the number of rations we put across the counter every day," Law added. "I have 97 chefs doing the feeding, and I've got a stock inventory on board, not food but spare parts [worth] about 4.5 billion pounds."</p><p>The strike group included RFA Tidespring, a replenishment tanker, and RFA Fort Victoria, a solid-support ship carrying food and ammunition. The UK plans <a href="https://www.navylookout.com/details-emerge-of-team-uks-fleet-solid-support-ship-proposal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to build three more</a> solid-support ships, and the deployment "absolutely confirmed" the need for them, Law said.</p><div type="image" title="RFA Tidespring HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="1148" width="2000" msid="95131303" hostid="261" sizebytes="120278"></div><p>The mission was "made slightly more complex" by the F-35B's unique logistical requirements, and a Lockheed Martin field service representative was aboard to assist, Law added.</p><p>The US and UK worked closely together to prepare the jets for deployment, and while at sea their squadrons not only shared spare parts but exchanged pilots.</p><p>The British aircrews began "synthetic training" in the US in 2020 and then returned to the UK, where both units — the Royal Air Force's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-british-air-force-f35-jets-commemorate-daring-wwii-mission-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 617 Squadron</a> and US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 — spent four weeks ashore and four weeks at sea, "working side by side" Twigg said.</p><p>Upon embarking in April 2021, he added, "it was like we'd already done the training, done the workups, and then we were able to deploy."</p><p>While US Marines use the F-35B slightly differently, focusing on littoral operations, their aircraft and squadrons were "interchangeable," Twigg said. "If a UK aircraft broke, couldn't start for whatever reason, a US aircraft and a US pilot would go and be his wingman instead, so that's the sort of integration that we got to."</p><div type="image" title="F-35 takes off from HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="960" width="1280" msid="95131304" hostid="261" sizebytes="82680"></div><p>The British F-35Bs had qualified for all their missions from shore in 2018, and the deployment was meant to test their ability to do them from the carrier and in conjunction with other ships and aircraft.</p><p>"It's not just about being a floating airfield," Twigg said. "It's got to integrate with the ship, with all the other squadrons, and then the rest of the strike group, and everywhere we go. So that's what we were trying to prove."</p><p>Flight operations were aided by the "versatility" of the carrier's short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing design, which allows aircraft to take off and land simultaneously. Without catapults and arresting gear, Twigg added, "a lot of the burden" of launch and recovery is on the aircraft rather than the ship, and fewer people are needed on the deck.</p><p>"I have a team of just 27 on the flight deck" compared to about 200 on the deck of a US Nimitz-class carrier, Twigg said. "It's a lot quieter, and there's less moving parts of the deck itself."</p><h2>'Big lumps of metal'</h2><div type="image" title="Aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales" height="1333" width="2000" msid="95131305" hostid="261" sizebytes="256664"></div><p>HMS Queen Elizabeth's maiden deployment was an international endeavor in many ways. In addition to US jets, the strike group included a US Navy destroyer and a Dutch navy frigate.</p><p>The multinational makeup was "about getting beyond interoperability to interchangeability" and to find "would the captain of this ship feel comfortable with a foreign partner-nation defending his ship?" Law said.</p><p>The carrier and its escorts conducted dozens of exercises with partners and allies, including <a href="https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2743788/vmfa-211-conducts-first-cross-deck-aviation-mission-in-modern-naval-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a first-of-its-kind</a> cross-deck landing drill with a US amphibious assault ship and with Italian F-35Bs.</p><p>The ability of US, UK, and Italian F-35Bs to operate from each other's ships "offers tactical agility and strategic advantage to NATO," the strike group commander, Commodore Steve Moorhouse, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-ends-first-deployment-with-milestones-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said last year</a>.</p><div type="image" title="F-35Bs on aircraft HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="1333" width="2000" msid="95131306" hostid="261" sizebytes="96838"></div><p>The attention was not all friendly. While conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, the carrier's jets encountered Russian aircraft operating from Syria, leading to "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/close-military-encounters-are-message-from-russia-to-the-west-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cat-and-mouse posturing</a>," a British officer said at the time.</p><p>In the Pacific, the strike group's ships and helicopters kept track of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-already-training-for-anti-submarine-warfare-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese submarines</a> to allow the carrier to avoid them, Moorhouse <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/britain-tracked-chinese-submarines-and-was-ready-to-intercept-jets-in-south-china-sea-officers-reveal-12460378" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last year.</p><p>Twigg wouldn't comment on those interactions but said British pilots were prepared for incoming threats. "We went round very confidently," he told Insider. "We could defend ourselves if it was necessary."</p><p>Nor were the milestones all positive. While in the Mediterranean in mid-November, a British F-35B crashed at sea. The pilot was recovered, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-ends-first-deployment-with-milestones-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the lost jet was one of the newest ones</a> in the fleet.</p><p>The carrier and its crew returned to the UK in December and spent four months repairing the ship, updating procedures, and training new crew.</p><div type="image" title="British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Eliazabeth in New York Harbor" height="1500" width="2000" msid="95131307" hostid="261" sizebytes="282628"></div><p>"Mainly our focus was getting them trained up," Twigg said of the new crew members. "They were civilians last year and now they're serving aboard, so it was a lot of training that we've done this year."</p><p>The carrier has spent much of 2022 on very-high readiness status, ready to deploy on short notice if needed — and it was needed in late August, when its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, broke down as it departed for New York City.</p><p>HMS Prince of Wales was supposed to host the forum as part of a longer deployment to North America, but HMS Queen Elizabeth was instead sent to New York, which turned out to be a relatively easy task.</p><p>Prince of Wales handed over the three helicopters it had prepared for the event. "I had to do a day of training with my team with the helicopters and we were good to go flying," Twigg said.</p><p>Other material just had to be moved from one carrier to the other. "Because we have adjacent berths back in Portsmouth, it was literally just crane it all off, down the jetty, back on here, and off we go," Law said.</p><div type="image" title="British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales" height="1333" width="2000" msid="95131308" hostid="261" sizebytes="435592"></div><p>Moorhouse <a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalNavy/status/1565747919810138113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in September that an inspection found an "extremely unusual fault" in Prince of Wales' starboard propeller shaft and that there was "significant damage to the shaft and the propeller and some superficial damage to the rudder."</p><p>The propeller was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-13/hms-queen-elizabeth-returns-to-home-port-after-replacing-sister-ship-on-us-visit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed</a> and the carrier taken to the shipyard where it was built, where it <a href="https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1580890817916334080" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entered</a> a dry dock in mid-October.</p><p>Adm. Ben Key, first sea lord and chief of the British naval staff, praised HMS Queen Elizabeth's crew for taking on host duties "with considerable alacrity" and called the damage to HMS Prince of Wales "a great shame."</p><p>But the carrier's future wouldn't be clear until it was in a dry dock and "we can actually inspect properly what has gone wrong," Key told reporters aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth on September 29. "These are big lumps of metal that have failed, so this is not necessarily going to be a quick fix."</p><p>The death of Queen Elizabeth II shortly after her namesake carrier was assigned to host the forum "brought an additional poignancy" to the event, Key added, "but in the grand scheme of things, I wish it was Prince of Wales here, because that would mean that she hadn't got a problem with her starboard shaft, frankly."</p>

The British navy's aircraft carriers are back after 'a bit of a hiatus,' but one of them has an uncertain future

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US <keyword id="108651" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marine-Corps">Marine Corps</keyword> F-35s flew 5,000 miles from Arizona to the UK this week.</li><li>The fifth-gen jets are preparing to deploy aboard the British <keyword id="42406" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier">aircraft carrier</keyword> <keyword id="1616943" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="HMS-Queen-Elizabeth">HMS Queen Elizabeth</keyword>.</li><li>It will be the first full operational deployment of a US <keyword id="1824517" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35b">F-35B</keyword> squadron aboard the British carrier.</li></ul><p>US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters flew over 5,000 miles this week for an upcoming deployment aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.</p><p>Ten fifth-generation fighter jets assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, a unit known as the "Wake Island Avengers," flew from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona to RAF Lakenheath in the UK for final training before next month's deployment.</p><p>For HMS Queen Elizabeth's maiden deployment, the first-in-class ship will lead the large, multinational Carrier Strike Group 21. The CSG will sail over 26,000 nautical miles and visit 40 countries during the deployment, <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/april/26/210426-csg21-deployment">according to the Royal Navy</a>.</p><p>VMFA-211 will integrate with Britain's 617 squadron, known as the "Dambusters."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe &amp; Africa  (@USMCFEA) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1387387297503629313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote><p>Although the B variant F-35s used by the Marine Corps is built for short takeoff and vertical landings aboard big-deck amphibious assault ships, they have also proven capable of operating off the British Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.</p><p>US Marine Corps F-35 pilots have trained alongside their British counterparts aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, but this will be the first full operational deployment of a US F-35B squadron aboard the British carrier, <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/394978/wake-island-avengers-arrive-raf-lakenheath">according to the US Marine Corps</a>.</p><p>Last September, <a href="https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2349489/the-wake-island-avengers-have-arrived/">VMFA-211 trained alongside the Dambusters at Royal Air Force Marham</a>, where the two squadrons worked together to develop the essential mission skills necessary to function as a combined force for the upcoming deployment.</p><p>The US Marine Corps <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-f-35-squadron-to-make-history-by-deploying-aboard-british-carrier-2019-5">first announced plans to deploy F-35Bs aboard the Queen Elizabeth for a 2021 deployment</a> in 2019.</p><div type="image" title="CSG 21" height="2400" width="3600" msid="82298088" hostid="261"></div><p>In addition to the 65,000 metric ton British carrier, the CSG with which the US Marines will be operating will include the British destroyers HMS Diamond and Defender, frigates HMS Richmond and Kent, support ships Fort Victoria and Tidespring, and a submarine.</p><p>A Dutch frigate and American destroyer will also be a part of the group.</p><p>The CSG, which will also include more than 30 aircraft, will be the largest fleet of <keyword id="201426" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Royal-Navy">Royal Navy</keyword> ships to deploy abroad since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-learns-lessons-about-seizing-taiwan-from-the-falklands-war-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Falklands War</a>.</p><p>The deployment is expected to take the group into the Indo-Pacific region, likely through contested waterways like the South China Sea, where China routinely bristles at US aircraft carrier operations. The plan is for the strike group to visit Signapore, South Korea, Japan, and India, among other nations.</p><p>UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that "when our Carrier Strike Group sets sail next month, it will be flying the flag for Global Britain."</p><p>He said the CSG will be "projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow."</p><p>'"The UK," he said, "is not stepping back but sailing forth to play an active role in shaping the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> system of the 21st century."</p>

US Marine Corps F-35s flew over 5,000 miles for a deployment aboard UK aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An F-35 pilot had to bail out of a stealth fighter over the Mediterranean Wednesday.</li><li>The pilot was operating off the British flagship carrier <keyword id="12554191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-queen-elizabeth" source="Orion">HMS Queen Elizabeth</keyword>.</li></ul><p>A British pilot flying an F-35B stealth fighter jet off <keyword id="11892697" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="britain" source="Orion">Britain</keyword>'s flagship <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> HMS Queen Elizabeth was forced to bail out of the stealth fighter during flight operations in the Mediterranean, the UK defense ministry revealed Wednesday.</p><p>The pilot, who was a member of the 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, was recovered safely and returned to the ship, and an investigation is underway.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Ministry of Defence Press Office  (@DefenceHQPress) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1460987353410027530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2021</a></blockquote><p>Insider contacted the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> about the status of the aircraft, but the sea service declined to comment further.</p><p>The incident, on which details are still limited, is one of only a handful of F-35 fighter crashes and only the second for an <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> partner in this stealth fighter program.</p><p>The first F-35 crash <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-crashes-in-south-carolina-2018-9">happened in 2018 and involved a short-takeoff/vertical landing B variant that went down near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina</a>. As was the case for the British pilot, the US Marine Corps pilot flying that aircraft was able to eject safely.</p><p>The following year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-japanese-militaries-scrambling-to-find-technology-on-missing-f-35-2019-4">a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35A flying out of Misawa Air Base disappeared from radar</a>. The remains of the pilot, Major Akinori Hosomi, were recovered, but the bulk of the aircraft remains lost on the sea floor.</p><p>And in March last year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f35-crash-eglin-air-force-base-florida-2020-5">a US Air Force pilot safely ejected from an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base</a>. In September, <a href="https://news.usni.org/2020/09/29/marine-f-35b-crashes-after-collision-with-kc-130-over-california-all-aircrew-recovered-safely">an F-35B crashed in California</a> after colliding with a KC-130. The pilot survived but was injured during ejection.</p><p>The British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the fleet flagship and the first of a new class of aircraft carrier that also includes HMS Prince of Wales, is on her maiden deployment.</p><p>The UK has 24 F-35Bs, 21 of which have been delivered with 3 still in the US for testing and evaluation. Eight British F-35s deployed aboard the Queen Elizabeth alongside ten stealth fighters flown by US Marine Corps pilots.</p>

A pilot flying off Britain's flagship aircraft carrier was forced to bail out of an F-35 stealth fighter in the Mediterranean

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The F-35 that crashed off a British aircraft carrier last month has been recovered.</li><li>A British pilot had to bail out during a takeoff emergency, ditching the plane in the Mediterranean.</li></ul><p>The F-35 stealth fighter that a British carrier pilot <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-pilot-flying-off-uk-aircraft-carrier-bails-out-2021-11">was forced to ditch in the Mediterranean last month</a> has been recovered, the British Defense Ministry said Wednesday.</p><p>"Operations to recover the UK F-35 jet in the Mediterranean Sea have successfully concluded," the ministry said. "We extend our thanks to our NATO allies Italy and the United States of America for their support during the recovery operation."</p><p>In mid-November, a pilot with the 617 (Dambusters) Squadron deployed aboard <keyword id="12554191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-queen-elizabeth" source="Orion">HMS Queen Elizabeth</keyword> had to bail out of an <keyword id="12272848" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35b" source="Orion">F-35B</keyword> Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter due to an emergency.</p><p>Toward the end of last month, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-appears-show-the-british-f-35-fighter-jet-crashing-2021-11">a video surfaced online</a> that appeared to show the the fifth-generation aircraft slipping off the aircraft carrier's ski jump and crashing into the sea during a takeoff mishap.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Seb H  (@sebh1981) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1465351592018956295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a></blockquote><p>The above twitter user, a defense commentator, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-appears-show-the-british-f-35-fighter-jet-crashing-2021-11">told Insider's Azmi Haroun</a> that the video was sourced from a <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> WhatsApp group, adding that the footage appeared to be from the Queen Elizabeth's visual surveillance system.</p><p><a href="https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/sailor-arrested-after-f-35-aircraft-carrier-crash-video-leak/">The UK Defense Journal, citing an unnamed source, reported</a> Tuesday that a service member aboard the carrier has been arrested for the video leak.</p><p>The British newspaper <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/news/4225752/f-35-jet-wreckage-royal-navy-mediterranean/">The Sun first reported</a> the successful recovery, reporting that a defense source said it took two weeks to find the wrecked fighter and another few weeks to pull the plane out of the sea.</p><p>Officials told the outlet that "there is no danger or compromise to sensitive equipment on the aircraft."</p><p><a href="https://www.the-sun.com/news/4225752/f-35-jet-wreckage-royal-navy-mediterranean/">The Sun reported</a> that senior military leaders had expressed concern that the aircraft's sensitive technology could fall into the hands of the Russians if not properly recovered.</p><p>Similar concerns were raised when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-japanese-militaries-scrambling-to-find-technology-on-missing-f-35-2019-4">a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35A flying out of Misawa Air Base disappeared from radar</a> in 2019. The remains of the pilot, Maj. Akinori Hosomi, and some debris were recovered, but the bulk of the aircraft was not.</p><p>The British F-35 mishap, which was reportedly caused by a rain cover getting sucked into the engine, is only the fifth known F-35 <keyword id="12129639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crash" source="Orion">crash</keyword>.</p><p>With the loss of the aircraft, the UK has only 23 F-35Bs. Twenty-one aircraft had been delivered, and three are still in the US for testing and evaluation. Eight British F-35s were deployed aboard the Queen Elizabeth alongside 10 F-35Bs flown by US Marine Corps pilots.</p>

The UK has recovered the F-35 stealth fighter that crashed off an aircraft carrier into the sea

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword>'s new flagship, <keyword id="12554191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-queen-elizabeth" source="Orion">HMS Queen Elizabeth</keyword>, returned from its maiden deployment this month.</li><li>In its final weeks at sea, the British carrier operated with F-35Bs from a new country but lost one of its own F-35Bs.</li></ul><p>On December 9, the <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> HMS Queen Elizabeth — the Royal Navy's new flagship and the largest, most powerful vessel <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/queenelizabeth">ever constructed for the service</a> — returned to Portsmouth after its maiden deployment.</p><p>During seven months of operations as <keyword id="12833224" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="carrier-strike-group" source="Orion">Carrier Strike Group</keyword> 21, HMS Queen Elizabeth and its escorts sailed through the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Western Pacific, working alongside ships from <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/news/ships/queen-elizabeth/csg-21-deployment-map-(1).pdf?la=en-gb&amp;rev=7303a9a532894b5ca7da987a19269104&amp;hash=891E07E0CCDFA3C2CB73B41D61DE88A5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">17 countries and participating in 18 major exercises</a>.</p><p>The carrier's deployment was significant for many reasons and featured a number of milestones involving the F-35 aircraft, including the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-that-crashed-off-uk-carrier-has-been-recovered-2021-12">loss of a British F-35B</a>.</p><h2>A seaborne F-35 hub</h2><div type="image" title="US and UK F-35Bs aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="1333" width="2000" msid="88555242" hostid="261"></div><p>Carrier Strike Group 21's mission was the largest deployment of F-35 aircraft since the F-35 program began.</p><p>Aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, which can carry 40 aircraft, were 18 F-35s: 10 F-35Bs from US Marine Corps' Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 and eight F-35Bs from Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, known as "the Dambusters" in reference to <a href="https://www.insider.com/british-raf-with-bouncing-bombs-crippled-nazi-factories-in-ruhr-valley-2018-9">a daring World War II mission</a>.</p><p>During the deployment, British and American F-35Bs completed 1,278 sorties — including 44 missions against ISIS targets in support of Operation Inherent Resolve — <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/news/ships/queen-elizabeth/csg-21-deployment-map-(1).pdf?la=en-gb&amp;rev=7303a9a532894b5ca7da987a19269104&amp;hash=891E07E0CCDFA3C2CB73B41D61DE88A5">and flew more than 2,200 hours</a> in total.</p><p>"We have never seen a ship with 18 F-35s out there that is going to transverse half the world like we're going to do," Lt. Col. Andrew D'Ambrogi, commander of the US Marine squadron, <a href="https://news.usni.org/2021/04/29/blended-u-s-marine-u-k-royal-air-force-air-wing-aboard-hms-queen-elizabeth-will-be-largest-f-35-deployment-to-date">said before the deployment</a>.</p><p>D'Ambrogi called the deployment "a pretty bold statement" about power projection, and that was clearly one of the Carrier Strike Group 21's goals, especially in the Indo-Pacific, a region of increasing importance for the UK.</p><p>In <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/975077/Global_Britain_in_a_Competitive_Age-_the_Integrated_Review_of_Security__Defence__Development_and_Foreign_Policy.pdf">a strategy document</a> released in March, the British government said it planned to put "greater emphasis than ever before on the Indo-Pacific reflecting its importance to many of the most pressing global challenges in the coming decade."</p><p>That emphasis was reflected in the deployment of so many F-35s, but British and American F-35s were not the only ones aboard the carrier.</p><h2>Crossing the language barrier</h2><div type="image" title="Italian, British, US F-35B jets aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="1333" width="2000" msid="88555243" hostid="261"></div><p>In late November, Italian F-35Bs landed on HMS Queen Elizabeth's <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/queenelizabeth">4 </a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/queenelizabeth">acre flight deck</a> for interoperability exercises in the Mediterranean.</p><p>"The fact that US, Italian, and UK F-35Bs are able to fly to and from one another's decks offers tactical agility and strategic advantage to NATO," <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest%20activity/news/2021/november/22/20211122-italian-f35s">said Royal Navy Commodore Steve Moorhouse</a>, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group.</p><p>The US, UK, and Italy are the only NATO members that currently operate the <keyword id="12272848" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35b" source="Orion">F-35B</keyword> variant, and having all three operating their jets aboard the carrier was "a telling demonstration of the ability of the UK's flagship to work seamlessly with other nations," Moorhouse added.</p><p>This ability is extremely important for allied interoperability.</p><p>"Different [air traffic controllers] use different terminology, accents cause confusion, and call signs can change depending on where you're operating," <a href="https://sofrep.com/index.php/author/brian-hudson">Brian Hudson</a>, an aviation writer and veteran US Air Force avionics technician, told Insider.</p><p>US Air Force pilots regularly do proficiency training on civilian airfields, on airfields operated by other US service branches, and on foreign military airfields "just for the experience of dealing with unfamiliar controllers," Hudson added.</p><p>Besides F-35Bs from those three allies, Carrier Strike Group 21 operated alongside F-35s from four other militaries during its deployment. But it was not all good news for Britain's new flagship.</p><h2>A dent in its record</h2><div type="image" title="F-35B takes off from British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth" height="827" width="1240" msid="88555244" hostid="261"></div><p>On November 17, a British pilot was forced to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-pilot-flying-off-uk-aircraft-carrier-bails-out-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eject from his F-35B during routine flight operations</a> near Egypt.</p><p>The pilot was recovered safely, but the jet was lost at sea, prompting a hectic search in order to prevent sensitive equipment from being retrieved by adversaries. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-that-crashed-off-uk-carrier-has-been-recovered-2021-12">The aircraft was recovered in early December</a>.</p><p>It was the first accident involving a British F-35B, a plane that costs the UK military roughly $165 million.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/Justin_Br0nk/status/1467858245255671822">According to Justin Bronk</a>, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, the lost F-35B was one of the newest ones in the British fleet.</p><p>Its age meant it had "significantly lower Block IV upgrade requirements than older airframes," Bronk said, referring to an upcoming suite of hardware and software upgrades that will considerably increase the jet's already formidable capabilities.</p><p>Britain has 23 F-35Bs remaining, three of which are still undergoing testing and evaluation in the US. It has ordered 24 more, which are scheduled for delivery by 2025.</p><p>The UK initially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-british-aircraft-carriers-hit-major-milestone-at-same-time-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planned to buy 138 F-35Bs, but that was cut to 48 jets</a>. In the UK's 2021 defense review, officials announced plans to increase the fleet to more than 48, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974661/CP411_-Defence_Command_Plan.pdf">though they didn't give an exact number</a>.</p><h2>A global Britain</h2><div type="image" title="Aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales" height="1333" width="2000" msid="88555245" hostid="261"></div><p>The first-in-class HMS Queen Elizabeth and its sister ship, <keyword id="12554905" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-prince-of-wales" source="Orion">HMS Prince of Wales</keyword>, are the only two carriers of their class, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-british-aircraft-carriers-hit-major-milestone-at-same-time-2021-11">both hit major milestones this year</a>, reflecting the UK's renewed emphasis on global military reach.</p><p>Despite the loss of an F-35B, the deployment of Carrier Strike Group 21, its participation in <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> exercises, and the advances in F-35 interoperability were all displays of Britain's renewed maritime power.</p><p>As the British government said in <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974661/CP411_-Defence_Command_Plan.pdf">its 2021 defense review</a>, the strike group showcases "the UK's ability to project global influence and send a powerful message about our ability, and our willingness, to act globally."</p><p><em>Constantine Atlamazoglou works on transatlantic and European security. He holds a master's degree on security studies and European affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.</em></p>

The UK's new aircraft carrier wrapped up its maiden deployment with 2 more milestones — one good and one bad

<ul class="summary-list"><li>With <keyword id="12554191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-queen-elizabeth" source="Orion">HMS Queen Elizabeth</keyword> and <keyword id="12554905" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-prince-of-wales" source="Orion">HMS Prince of Wales</keyword>, the <keyword id="12412747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="british-navy" source="Orion">British navy</keyword> once again has aircraft carriers.</li><li>They hit a milestone this year, conducting simultaneous exercises with fixed-wing jets for the first time.</li></ul><p>In September, the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/september/15/210915-royal-navy-aircraft-carriers-make-history-on-simultaneous-f-35b-lightning-jet-operations" target="_top">announced</a> that its two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers conducted simultaneous exercises with fixed-wing aircraft for the first time.</p><p>The drills involved launching and recovering F-35Bs, the short-takeoff and vertical-landing version of the stealth fighter, from HMS Prince of Wales in British waters and HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Pacific — 7,000 miles apart.</p><p>It marked the start of a busy fall for Britain's two new carriers, which the Royal Navy calls "<a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">t</a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">he </a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">n</a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">ation's </a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">f</a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/queen-elizabeth-carriers" target="_top">lagships</a>."</p><h2>Queen Elizabeth-class</h2><div type="image" title="RFA Tidespring replenishment at sea with HMS Queen Elizabeth HNLMS Evertsen" height="778" width="1038" msid="87769209" hostid="261"></div><p>The decommissioning of the last Invincible-class <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword>, HMS Illustrious, left the Royal Navy without any aircraft carriers for the first time in nearly a century. With the commissioning of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, the UK now has two fully operational and completely modern flattops.</p><p>At 65,000 tons and 920 feet long, the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are nearly three times larger than the Invincible-class carriers they replace, and they have a number of improvements.</p><p>Though not nuclear-powered, they have an <a href="https://www.rolls-royce.com/~/media/Files/R/Rolls-Royce/documents/news/6-page-qe-booklet-tcm92-58802.pdf" target="_top">integrated electric propulsion system</a> consisting of two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines and four Wärtsilä 38 Marine diesel engines. They each have a range of about 10,000 miles.</p><p>The most noticeable feature are the two islands, rather than one, on the carriers' decks. The forward island handles navigation, while the aft island handles flight control for the carrier's air wing.</p><p>The dual-island set up provides some <a href="https://www.navylookout.com/the-reasons-hms-queen-elizabeth-has-two-islands/" target="_top">unique benefits</a>, allowing for greater visibility, increased survivability, a larger flight deck and more efficient use of space, and reduced air turbulence over the flight deck. It also integrates the two exhaust stacks each ship was required to have.</p><p>The ideal air wing would include 36 <keyword id="12272848" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-35b" source="Orion">F-35B</keyword> fighters and at least four helicopters, likely a combination of <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/the-equipment/aircraft/helicopters/merlin-mk2" target="_top">Merlin Mk2</a> or <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/the-equipment/aircraft/helicopters/merlin-mk4" target="_top">Mk4s</a> and <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/the-equipment/aircraft/helicopters/commando-wildcat-ah1" target="_top">Wildcat AH1s</a>. The extra space, however, can accommodate larger air wings when necessary. The carriers can also carry <a href="https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2018/february-2018-navy-naval-defense-news/5943-raf-ch47-chinook-helicopter-aboard-hms-queen-elizabeth.html" target="_top">Chinook</a> helicopters and <a href="https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mv-22b-osprey-aircraft-land-on-hms-queen-elizabeth/" target="_top">V-22</a> tilt-rotor aircraft.</p><p>The carriers also have a modern suite of technology and equipment. The new weapons handling system, for instance, <a href="https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/product/aircraft-carriers" target="_top">requires</a> just 48 crew members to operate instead of the 160 needed previously.</p><h2>HMS Queen Elizabeth</h2><div type="image" title="F-35 takes off from HMS Queen Elizabeth" height="1000" width="1500" msid="87769211" hostid="261"></div><p>HMS Queen Elizabeth was commissioned on December 7, 2017, and has racked up an impressive resume. After three years of trials and fitting out, it <a href="https://www.forces.net/news/royal-navy-carrier-strike-group-assembles-first-time" target="_top">formed</a> a strike group for the first time in October 2020.</p><p>Since May this year, it <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/april/26/210426-csg21-deployment" target="_top">has been</a> the flagship of <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/carrier-strike" target="_top">Carrier Strike Group 21</a>, a task force which includes the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Artful, Dutch Navy frigate HNLMS Evertsen, and US Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans on a 28-week deployment to 40 countries in Europe, the Pacific, and the Middle East.</p><p>It deployed with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-training-for-all-domain-fight-atlantic-during-nato-exercise-2021-5" target="_top">the largest fifth-generation air wing</a> ever embarked on any ship — 10 F-35Bs from the US Marine Corps' Fighter Attack Squadron 211 and eight F-35Bs from the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron.</p><p>The carrier also saw combat for the first time, conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq a month into the deployment. Those strikes put the carrier and its jets <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/close-military-encounters-are-message-from-russia-to-the-west-2021-7" target="_top">in a "cat and mouse" game with Russian forces</a>, which kept a close eye on them as they operated in the Eastern Mediterranean.</p><p>During the deployment, the carrier has <a href="https://www.navylookout.com/photo-essay-exercise-strike-warrior/" target="_top">trained</a> with NATO forces in Europe, and exercised with the <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/british-carrier-strike-group-conducts-passage-exercise-with-singapore-navy" target="_top">Singaporean</a>, <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/08/hms-queen-elizabeth-conducts-combined-exercise-with-rok-navy/" target="_top">South Korean</a>, <a href="https://www.hampshirelive.news/news/hampshire-news/hms-queen-elizabeth-exercises-royal-5987207" target="_top">New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/10/india-uk-take-part-in-combined-and-joint-exercise-konkan-shakti-2021/" target="_top">Indian</a>, <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/407517/warships-australia-japan-uk-and-us-join-forces-maritime-partnership-exercise-2021" target="_top">Japanese, Australian, and US</a> navies in Asia.</p><p>Most recently, Queen Elizabeth <a href="https://news.usni.org/2021/11/01/u-k-royal-navy-strike-group-drilling-with-oman-uae-in-middle-east" target="_top">drilled</a> with the navies of Oman and the United Arab Emirates and <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/408998/uss-essex-conducts-flight-operations-with-hms-queen-elizabeth" target="_top">conducted</a> "cross-deck" landing operations with the amphibious assault ship USS Essex in the Gulf of Oman.</p><p>The carrier is expected to return home in December and is now in the Mediterranean, where it had another, less welcome milestone: A British pilot had to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-pilot-flying-off-uk-aircraft-carrier-bails-out-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bail out of an F-35B</a> during flight operations, just the fifth F-35 to be lost to a crash.</p><h2>HMS Prince of Wales</h2><div type="image" title="F-35 aboard HMS Prince of Wales" height="1000" width="1500" msid="87769212" hostid="261"></div><p>HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned on December 10, 2019. Since then, the carrier and its crew have gone through nearly two years of intense training and fitting-out work.</p><p>It has been <a href="https://theaviationist.com/2021/09/13/hms-prince-of-wales/" target="_top">tested</a> with manned and unmanned aircraft and participated in the naval element of <a href="https://mc.nato.int/media-centre/news/2021/nato-exercise-dynamic-marinerjoint-warrior-concludes-in-uk" target="_top">Exercise Joint Warrior 212</a>, which was one of Europe's largest military exercises.</p><p>More than 20 ships, dozens of aircraft, and over 3,000 personnel from a dozen countries took part in the exercise, which included airborne assaults, amphibious landings, and live-fire exercises.</p><p>After Joint Warrior, HMS Prince of Wales was <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/10/royal-navy-declares-aircraft-carrier-hms-prince-of-wales-operational/" target="_top">declared</a> fully operational. The carrier will become NATO's command ship in 2022, making it the flagship of the alliance.</p><h2>A small air wing</h2><div type="image" title="F-35 hovers over HMS Prince of Wales" height="1000" width="1500" msid="87769213" hostid="261"></div><p>The two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers — there are no plans to build more — have been declared operational and have proved their worth in multiple exercises, but they still have issues with their air wings, specifically their <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/06/28/britain-spent-so-much-on-two-giant-aircraft-carriers-it-cant-afford-planes-or-escorts/?sh=3750a9cf5bcc" target="_top">small size</a>.</p><p>With the <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35199/the-inside-story-of-how-the-uk-culled-its-entire-harrier-jet-force-in-just-two-months" target="_top">retirement of the Harrier</a> in 2010, the F-35B is the only fixed-wing aircraft that can operate on Britain's carriers. In 2015, the UK announced plans to acquire 138 F-35s. Only 48 have been ordered, and only 21 have been delivered — 20 after the jet lost this month — with the rest in production.</p><p>The UK's active F-35Bs are in service with the Royal Air Force, including those aboard the carriers. While some RAF F-35Bs are flown by Royal Navy pilots, the Royal Navy isn't expected to have its own operational <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/fleet-air-arm/future-aircraft/809-naval-air-squadron" target="_top">F-35B</a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/fleet-air-arm/future-aircraft/809-naval-air-squadron" target="_top"> </a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/fleet-air-arm/future-aircraft/809-naval-air-squadron" target="_top">s</a><a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/fleet-air-arm/future-aircraft/809-naval-air-squadron" target="_top">quadron</a> until 2023.</p><p>The small number of available British F-35s is likely one reason US Marine Corps F-35Bs have deployed aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. Officials have touted that cooperation, but it has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2021/03/25/aircraft-carrierbnb-without-enough-f-35bs-to-fill-its-carrier-decks-the-uk-mod-suggests-other-nations-come-aboard/?sh=18a461881502" target="_top">prompted concern</a> that the Royal Navy may have to rely on allies to fill its carriers' hangars.</p><p>Jeremy Quin, British minister for defense procurement, has <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/03/uk-absolutely-will-buy-more-f-35s-procurement-minister-says/173055/" target="_top">said</a> that the UK will order more F-35s "by 2025," but he hasn't given an exact number or confirmed that the UK still plans to acquire 138.</p><p>The British military has other aircraft programs underway. The Royal Navy is looking into carrier-launched versions of the wingman drones being developed by the <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/features/future-raf-will-mix-crewed-fighters-uavs-and-swarming-drones-cds/" target="_top">Royal Air Force</a>. The UK is also developing a sixth-generation stealth fighter, known as Tempest, meant <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-ministry-of-defense-updates-on-tempest-6th-generation-fighter-2020-12" target="_top">to surpass current fifth-generation jets</a>.</p><p>Despite concerns about the air wing, the number and variety of aircraft that the new British aircraft carriers can carry mean the Royal Navy will soon again boast one of the strongest carrier forces in the world.</p>

The British Navy's 2 new aircraft carriers hit a major milestone at the same time — on opposite sides of the planet

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ce5657606605200dc0d2fe4-1400/mrm-official-20190521-0221-0163.jpg" border="0" alt="British RAF air force F-35B fighter jets Cyprus" data-mce-source="Sgt Nik Howe/RAF" data-mce-caption="An F-35B, the Royal Air Force's newest aircraft, departs RAF Marham Station for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, May 21, 2019." /><p class="source"><span>Sgt Nik Howe/RAF</span></p><p class="caption">An F-35B, the Royal Air Force's newest aircraft, departs RAF Marham Station for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, May 21, 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Royal Air Force's newest aircraft, the F-35B, arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday for the fighter jets first deployment abroad.</li><li>The jets are on a six-week deployment meant to test their flying abilities, ground-crew capabilities, and logistical arrangements.</li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>AKROTIRI, Cyprus (AP) - Six F-35B Lightning warplanes, the UK's newest fighter, arrived Tuesday at a British air base on Cyprus for training and a systems test in the aircraft's first overseas deployment.</p><p>The jets from 617 Squadron, flown by three British Royal Navy and three Royal Air Force pilots, touched down at RAF Akrotiri for what officials said will be a six-week deployment on the eastern Mediterranean island nation as part of Exercise Lightning Dawn.</p><p>The fighters left RAF Marham Station in two waves of three aircraft, with each wave supported by an Airbus A330 MRRT Voyager that refueled them several times during the journey.</p>  

The British air force just sent its brand-new F-35Bs overseas for the first time - here's what their arrival looked like

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/573f2e9691058426008c40c6-3000-2000/dambusters.jpg" alt="dambusters 617 raf F-35" data-mce-source="Royal Air Force" data-link="http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/the-dambusters-in-2016-from-lancaster-to-lightning-16052016"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/the-dambusters-in-2016-from-lancaster-to-lightning-16052016">Royal Air Force</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>The above picture shows the airmen of the RAF's 617 'Dambusters' squadron kneeling in front of two F-35Bs with their&#xa0;World War II counterparts superimposed behind them.&#xa0;</p><p>The black and white counterparts&#xa0;were on the forefront of military aviation technology in World War II, when the multi-national squadron of&#xa0;bombers <a href="http://www.dambusters.org.uk/the-dam-raids/the-reasons/" target="_blank">needed a way</a> to knock out Nazi Germany's hydroelectric dams. Besides air and sea defenses, the Germans devised torpedo nets that protected their dams from conventional attacks.</p><p>Not to be defeated, the British devised a "<a href="http://www.dambusters.org.uk/the-dam-raids/the-bomb/the-bouncing-bomb/" target="_blank">bouncing bomb</a>" to be dropped from Lancaster bombers flying just 60 feet above the water. The mission was bold and dangerous, but the 617th prevailed, earning them a sort of legendary status in history.</p><h2>Here's an illustration of how the bouncing bomb worked (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS2-QyzaS1U" target="_blank">from Weymouth College</a>):</h2><p><div><iframe src="https://gfycat.com/ifr/PoisedWindyCreature" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="1240" height="620" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p><p>Now, airmen from the same squadron train with US&#xa0;Marines in Beaufort,&#xa0;South Carolina, to fly the most advanced jet in the world, the F-35 Lightning II.</p><p>"We work alongside the US Marines flying the jets and training pilots and maintainers every day. We've been working with our US partners since the beginning of the F-35 programme and we continue to develop the capabilities of the aircraft together," <a href="http://www.picrail.com/l/4k2cdd/brit-f35-pilots-of-617-squadron-standing-with" target="_blank">said RAF&#xa0;Wing Commander John Butcher</a>, 35, the current&#xa0;officer commanding of the 617 Squadron, whose grandfather flew Lancasters during World War II.</p><p>"We work very closely with the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and other <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> partners in making decisions on the programme; the relationships really couldn't be better."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-us-military-jets-warplanes-nato-romania-black-sea-f-22-2016-4">The US is showing its strength against Russia by sending its most advanced warplanes to the Black Sea</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="02eWo0MzE6Sna9Izru7iTcHT2MRCqgIM" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '02eWo0MzE6Sna9Izru7iTcHT2MRCqgIM',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "no 617 squadron" and got 11 results

How the British air force's newest jets commemorate a daring and costly World War II bombing mission

Benjamin Brimelow

Pilot forced to bail out of F-35 stealth jet after 'landing mishap' on US Navy aircraft carrier in South China Sea

Ryan Pickrell

How a remote lagoon and a 'secret weapon' allowed the US Navy to overwhelm Japanese forces during World War II

Benjamin Brimelow

The British navy's aircraft carriers are back after 'a bit of a hiatus,' but one of them has an uncertain future

Christopher Woody

US Marine Corps F-35s flew over 5,000 miles for a deployment aboard UK aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

Ryan Pickrell

A pilot flying off Britain's flagship aircraft carrier was forced to bail out of an F-35 stealth fighter in the Mediterranean

Ryan Pickrell

The UK has recovered the F-35 stealth fighter that crashed off an aircraft carrier into the sea

Ryan Pickrell

The UK's new aircraft carrier wrapped up its maiden deployment with 2 more milestones — one good and one bad

Constantine Atlamazoglou

The British Navy's 2 new aircraft carriers hit a major milestone at the same time — on opposite sides of the planet

Benjamin Brimelow

The British air force just sent its brand-new F-35Bs overseas for the first time - here's what their arrival looked like

Christopher Woody,Associated Press

The legendary RAF 'Dambusters' of WWII are now flying F-35s with US Marines

Alex Lockie