The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is setting sail to the US to carry out flight trials with the supersonic F-35B Lightning II.
Here are some facts and figures about the fighter jets which are based at RAF Marham in Norfolk:
– The jet measures 51.2ft (15.6m) in overall length, has a wingspan of 35ft (10.7m) and a height of 14.3ft (4.36m).
– Lockheed Martin, the American company building the jet, describes its stealth capabilities as “unprecedented”. Its airframe design, advanced materials and other features make it “virtually undetectable to enemy radar”.
– Britain has committed to a £9.1 billion programme to buy 48 of the jets by 2025 – with a pledge to purchase 138 – they will be jointly operated by Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots.
– The F-35B jets are built from more than 300,000 individual parts.
– The UK’s supersonic aircraft have been based in the US since their manufacture.
Last Friday, RAF Marham welcomed a further five F35B Lightnings to their new home in Norfolk. Find out what the famous 617 Squadron had to say. #F35UK #F35@RAFMarhamMedia pic.twitter.com/WaVhkVqxaf
— Ministry of Defence ?? (@DefenceHQ) August 6, 2018
– There are six distributed aperture system sensors around the jet – two underneath, two on top of the aircraft and one either side of the nose. These infrared cameras feed real-time information and images into the pilot’s helmet, allowing them to see through the airframe.
– All variants of the jets are mainly constructed on Lockheed Martin’s mile-long production line in Fort Worth, Texas.
– It takes 58,000 man hours to build each F-35B.
– The F-35 can launch from land, and will take off from HMS Queen Elizabeth via the skip jump ramp, which has been designed to optimise the launch.
– Maximum thrust tops 40,000lb and the jet has a range of 900 nautical miles.
– The warplanes will carry out missions from the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
– Lockheed Martin said across the 3,000 jets being built, 15% of each one is comprised of parts from British companies.
– Some of the UK companies with contracts to produce parts of jets includes Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Ultra Electronics, Selex, Cobham and GE Aviation.
– Lockheed Martin UK chief executive Peter Ruddock said that, to date, the F-35 programme has generated 13.5 billion dollars in contracts for British suppliers.
– HMS Queen Elizabeth weighs 65,000 tonnes and has a top speed of 25 knots, its flight deck is 919ft (280m) long and 230ft (70m) wide – enough space for three football pitches.
