The UK does not expect to take delivery of any further F-35 aircraft until the early 2030s, a written parliamentary answer has confirmed, opening a gap of several years in deliveries despite the government having announced a follow-on order beyond the initial 48 jets more than a year ago.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, asked how many F-35A jets will be purchased and when the decision will be taken, referencing the Defence Investment Plan.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard replied on 9 July: “As previously announced, twelve F-35A will be ordered. The exact delivery profile of F-35 aircraft is subject to negotiation between the UK and multi-national Joint Program Office, but the UK hopes to start taking delivery of the next batch of F-35 aircraft from the early 2030s.”
The answer puts a date on a gap that has been implicit since the government announced in June 2025 that the UK’s next tranche of 27 F-35s would include 12 conventional take-off F-35As for the NATO nuclear mission alongside further F-35Bs. Deliveries of the initial 48 F-35Bs, ordered across the programme’s early production lots, are now complete, with one aircraft lost in a carrier operating accident in 2021, meaning that from the arrival of the final jets of that first batch until the early 2030s the fleet will grow no further. The hedged language, that the UK “hopes” to start taking delivery from the early 2030s subject to negotiation with the Joint Program Office, leaves open the possibility of the gap extending further.
The pause carries consequences across several commitments. The 12 F-35As, which will be based at RAF Marham and join NATO’s dual-capable aircraft mission carrying US B61 gravity bombs, cannot be operational in the nuclear role until they exist, and a senior defence official confirmed at the Defence Investment Plan’s launch that the aim is to field them as soon as possible after 2030.
The F-35B force, meanwhile, is generating the air wing for HMS Prince of Wales on Operation Firecrest and the first NATO air defence operations flown from a European carrier, tasks that will fall on an unchanged number of airframes for the rest of the decade while the carriers’ role expands, including the planned use of HMS Queen Elizabeth as a floating headquarters for NATO’s Allied Reaction Force maritime component.
This isn’t new, I first read of this purchase gap on X some time ago.
Fab, isn’t it, that the RAF won’t expand it’s fast jet fleet at all leading up to the war various ministers say might be coming.
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I think RAF would love to expand its jet fleet.
HMT won’t fund it.
So much for a defence investment plan that has forced RAF to upgrade all the Typhoons T2/3 as make work in favour of new orders of F35.
Unfortunately most of the DIP increases were pre sent on:-
Pay
Pensions
Housing
UK Industrial Schemes
I won’t be too surprised to find that the British Steel fiasco was charged to MoD. Certainly Sheffield ForgeMasters was.
As I keep saying here no doubt to the annoyance of many, those are HMG priorities, last one especially.
I await a ministers comment on the actual military capability of any said purchase rather than the stock set of statements about jobs and keeping us all safe.
No rush! Bimbling by this useless Labour govt
And it was different under the last government that didn’t order anything and resulted in so much stuff going out of service and capability gaps?
Defence is a mess but making it all about labour is having serious blinkers on.
They are the ones in power now making appalling decisions. So yes the mismanagement now is all labour . The Tories had their own set of disgraceful behaviour in this respect.
Yeah agree, but only been in power 2 years, just keeping it balanced.
Things take time to change, when you take over a from a government that did a scorch earth policy on the economy before they got booted out.
I agree Steve – though the threat warnings during Labour’s tenure have been extremely vocal. To not order a single fast jet at this time knowing it takes years to build and train the crews makes zero sense unless the spend priorities are elsewhere
150 (138) becomes just 47 (48 Including the one that fell off).
Is It any wonder why people on here have a Negative view 🤔
I did hear that Tempest would be “Up To 10” ….. 😁🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️🏃♀️➡️
Morning.
No, it’s not.
We’ve sat through the forces being dismembered piece by piece by impending piece from 91. I still think we have fantastic highly capable armed forces though, in numerous areas. But at a marquee level, there’s no or little depth to any of it.
Funnily enough, one area where we are well furnished is in the RAF Chinook force. There’s been no article here about it, but that’s falling off a cliff as well, nice and quietly of course.
Numbers hit 60, for a time.
Cut to 51 over last few years.
DIP confirms the 29 HC6As, so the oldest ones, all going as they hit major maintenance milestones.
So down to 22!
At the same time, 14 Chinook ER are incoming.
So, 36.
It’s claimed a tranche 2 of Chinook sustainment programme will be purchased. Another easy to make statement with no commitment of another governments money.
And the peach on top, at the time when the 23 AW149s are yet to start coming in, and the AAC Wildcat force is thrown away.
Just in time for the 2030 period of concern.
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So the hedge trimmer has found another bit of fat to trim off.
Numbers, that’s my gripe, and will remain so no matter what apologist tries to explain it all away.
If this meant we had time to pull out of the F-35A decision, I’d say perhaps not a bad thing. The RAF should concentrate on the Typhoon upgrades and GCAP. The F-35s should be primarily for the FAA. Lockheed, along with its subcontractors, needs to up its game and deliver an integrated version of the F-35 with all the bits in. I have no doubt that the joint program office is pulling them every which way but Sunday; nevertheless, delivering planes without radars is not a good look. Someone needs to rebaseline the F-35 programme, and put together a guaranteed upgrade path. The JPO needs to defend that path from all the political mind changing.
We still haven’t heard about upgrades to the current F-35s. Perhaps because nothing can be planned with the unstable situation, but also because the thrust of the DIP is aimed towards the F-35As and CCAs, not the F-35Bs.
What is the obsession with bashing f35a? Its primary role is to be a cheaper to operate aircraft for the OCU, that by itself makes sense. The nuclear role is just a political side note of little real consequence. By the way, there’s another bonus, it frees up f35b’s for squadron use, how is that a negative? I can’t see any positives to come from dropping f35a.