A team of British engineers has arrived in southern India to begin repairs on a UK F-35B stealth fighter that has been grounded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala following an emergency diversion several weeks ago.
According to a statement from the British High Commission, “A UK engineering team has deployed to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to assess and repair the UK F-35B aircraft.”
The aircraft had been kept outside but has now been moved into a hangar within the airport’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility.
UPDATE: A team of UK engineers has arrived in India to commence repairs on the UK F35B aircraft. Repairs are underway on the aircraft, which has now been moved to the maintenance hangar. We are grateful for the continued support and collaboration of the Indian authorities. 🇬🇧🤝🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/WD0pmkiLNH
— UK Defence in India🇬🇧🇮🇳 (@UKDefenceIndia) July 7, 2025
“The UK has accepted the offer of a space in the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility,” the spokesperson said, confirming that specialist equipment has arrived with the team to support the movement and repair process.
The incident marks the first known emergency diversion of an F-35B to India. The aircraft, which is capable of short take-off and vertical landing, is believed to have been transiting the region when it encountered technical difficulties requiring an unscheduled landing.
In an official update posted to social media, the UK Defence team in India said: “A team of UK engineers has arrived in India to commence repairs on the UK F-35B aircraft. Repairs are underway on the aircraft, which has now been moved to the maintenance hangar. We are grateful for the continued support and collaboration of the Indian authorities.”
The UK has expressed formal thanks to Indian authorities and airport staff for their assistance in supporting the aircraft and facilitating the repair process. No timeline has been given for the completion of the work, and it remains unclear when the aircraft will be fit to resume flight.
It seems to have taken awhile to get to this stage. I understand the need to plan, gather together the team and equipment to deloy and that will take some time, obviously. However, I do wonder if the ‘just in time’ spares system, which we know has problems, simply isn’t just in time…
Anyway, good to see things moving. Perhaps the plane will be operational to meet up with CSG on the way home..?
Cheers CR
#Day23
#this has been happening for decades with carrier aviation. It’s nothing new. Just another story new to the Internet age.
Just because something has been happening for decades doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
#Day24
True. But supporting carrier aviation from the other side of the world is a complicated businIess. And requires a vast support chain. In the past far more aircraft would have ditched because of technical issues or weather related diversions. And people simply didn’t hear about it back home. Now because of social media everyone hears about, and comment with some very wide of the mark opinions.
I get your point about social media and of course, with so many moving parts on a deployment like this, issues are bound to happen. You can plan for everything you can think of, but something will always crop up. That’s understandable.
But at some point, they need to stop sending teams out and just make a decision: recover it and move on. (I hope this team finally gets it in the air).
Their only saving grace is that the vast majority of the public isn’t interested in defence matters, so good or bad PR doesn’t make much of a difference which is a shame.
True
But the timescale does betray the lack of having a team hot-to-go with transport spares and tooling. I would also guess that permission had to be sought to move various items of sensitive test kit to India and that India had to give diplomatic bag level assurances to US and UK over those items. The team will also have to be issued with visas etc.
Whilst, I suspect that this is a very complicated repair and that it means moving very significant kit and people from UK to India. I also suspect that work on other frames had to be finished before the people and kit were moved out so as not to risk disrupting generating other frames for the 24 show on the return leg.
When they fix send voyager and tank it to DG it can wait there for CSG to come back.
Have the India’s and Russians finish looking over it now 🕵
Looking at that picture, how many C-130Js do we still have?
Zero. Just A400m and C-17.
I’m just assuming that by now, everyone and ‘their dog’ has looked at it, taken 1,000’s of photographs of it, and flogged their findings to all in sundry. If I were anything to do with the US Defence department, I would not be overly impressed with the British from start to finish, over this embarrassing incident.
A very poor show all round!
The jet’s been sat out on the tarmac for the past couple of weeks – any pictures that could have been taken would provide no more information than could be gained through a quick internet search.
Bugger me backwards, a genious deduction and to think that “everyone and their dog” overlooked this opportunity for the past 20 years at every Airshow.
I have forwarded your observation to the MOD so they can see just “what a very poor show”it is.
“Heads will roll”.
I wonder if it’s the lift fan, must be fun trying to fix that with a Russian spy or Indian informant around every corner.
For matter, the Indian government would sell any information gathered to the highest bidder.
Want free Russian oil and gas, just spill the beans…
I will guarantee that Russian technicians and test pilots have already been all over every inch of their
Rafals.
I’m surprised they didn’t send a team and C17, dismantle and take back to Marham.
The wings would need to come of to fit in a C17. It would never fly again. Only been done once by the US that I know of. That aircraft never flew again.
That seems like a rather silly mistake to me, so if it lands and it cant be repaired, you would have little choice but to torch it!
Bloody crazy, note to BAE Systems, make sure Tempests wings can come off for air freight!
Noted.
The aircraft the US moved had a second career as a battle damage repair training prop.
We should remember the B variant was designed for the USMC not the UK. I am guessing push come to shove they would sling it under a Stallion.