British F-35B Lightning II jets, currently deployed in Iceland, have demonstrated their advanced short take-off capability as part of a NATO air policing mission.

The British aircraft executed a take-off using just 1,000 feet of Keflavik Air Base’s 10,000-foot runway, highlighting the unique capabilities of the F-35B variant.

The jets recently commenced their deployment to Iceland as part of an air policing mission, marking the first time these advanced aircraft have participated in a NATO air policing deployment. The mission, involving RAF pilots from 617 Squadron, is aimed at preserving the security of Allied skies through NATO’s permanent peacetime air policing.

This collective task involves the continuous presence of fighter aircraft and crews, ready to react swiftly to potential airspace violations.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, highlighted the significance of this mission, stating, “The UK is unshakeable in its commitment to NATO. With threats increasing and growing Russian aggression, it is vital that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies. This latest air policing mission in Iceland displays the UKā€™s ability to operate and deter our adversaries across the allianceā€™s airspace.”

This deployment follows a successful mission in Romania, where six Typhoon fighter jets and over two hundred personnel were stationed at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base to defend NATOā€™s eastern border. In Iceland, four cutting-edge F-35B jets from 617 Squadron will now patrol the airspace, having travelled from RAF Marham.

The F-35B Lightning is a multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems, and stealth technology. Its stealth capability makes it difficult for enemy radar systems to detect, providing a significant tactical advantage in various operational scenarios.

Group Captain John Butcher, Lightning Force Commander, noted the significance of this deployment in a news release, saying, “This will be the first time that the Lightning Force has deployed to contribute to NATO Air Policing, and will no doubt once again prove the flexibility that this platform offers as it demonstrates its capability to operate from both a land and maritime environment.”

The last time British jets undertook air policing in Iceland was in 2019, when four Typhoon jets conducted 59 training sorties and more than 180 practice intercepts.

The F-35B variant of the Lightning II is equipped with Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capabilities. This technology allows the aircraft to operate from shorter runways and even from aircraft carriers without the need for catapults.

The STOVL capability is particularly valuable for missions in regions where infrastructure may not support traditional fixed-wing aircraft operations.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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98 COMMENTS

  1. “With threats increasing and growing Russian aggression, it is vital we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies”
    Might help if we started to do something about the dire state of our armed forces then. Otherwise it’s just words.

    • This is a public forum, when you dish out abuse and threats of violence on a public forum, you might want to look into the consequences that your words might lead to.

      ļ»æšŸ“øļ»æ

          • All good Klonkie. The F 35B as you all know, trades some performance and range in exchange for this truly unique ability to land and take off “on a Tickie”(ļ»æšŸ˜‚ļ»æ) For those of you not familiar with this Saffer expression it means land on a tiny spot, a Tickey being equivalent to an old South African three penny bit! This also gives a wide range of other options that conventional fixed wings don’t have so IMO a more than fair trade.

    • There is an excellent video from Godfrey Bloom on the you tubes. Entitled Broken, Defeated, Woke & Hopeless. We should all watch it and think long and hard.

      • I can’t watch the BBC news anymore, it’s become too PC, Adverts on ITV seem to be the same and that’s probably all I can say without being labelled. Youtube is my safe space as you can pick and choose what to watch and I choose not to watch anything that winds me up.
        Recent riots have all but destroyed any chance of free speech from those who share a deep concern as to where we are heading.

        • It’s important to create a safe space where you feel your views aren’t challenged and argued with and you only hear what supports your own deeply held beliefs…šŸ¤Ŗ

          • Now now Paulļ»æšŸ˜‰ļ»æ One of the great challenges in a modern democracy is finding and defending the necessary limits on either extreme of the Left-Right spectrum. I was really pee’d off when Enoch Powell was banned from speaking at Oxford/ Cambridge. My limit would have been Hitler but I would be interested to hear from people like Kim Jong Un, Benjamin Netenyahu, Donald Trump etc. to see if one could elicit some serious answers and opinions from them. One of the finest speakers ever to come out of the old South Africa was a man by the name of Jaap Marais.He was a far right Afrikaaner Nationalist who spoke beautiful English and believed and argued for his view of SA politely and intelligently. You could be 100% against what he said but he was worth listening to!

          • Absolutely. I think that was my point…šŸ¤Ŗ Bakers comment above could have been made by an old bloke on the right or a student on the left. And neither side sees they are saying the exactly the same thing! Both sides think they are being cancelled or deplatformed and thinking thier view is being suppressed and yet they are all doing it to each other. No one thinks they are able to express the views they all air all of the time. Endless entertainment.

          • Well said Paul and it goes without saying that we should also hear from the old bloke on the left and student on the right or even the aged man (can we still say man?) like me in the middle!! ļ»æšŸ˜‰ļ»æļ»æšŸ˜†ļ»æ
            Cheers from Durban

        • Sorry Baker but the only way to understand the world is to listen to both sides of every argument, then draw your own conclusions. Try a news site called Ground News. It even tells you the differences in coverage of a topic by left or right leaning news outlets. It’s the best I’ve ever seen in that respect. The you tubes are heavily censored/policed so be careful with your comments my friend.

  2. A report today in the D.T. ļ»æšŸ™„ļ»æ that Labour are considering cancelling orders. Probably to pay for all the money needed for benefits once R.R. has finished with businesses.

    • It is insane.

      The benefits bill is totally out of control.

      Labours screaming was largely why it could not be reformed by the previous governments: by Doris, to be fair the Short Term One probably would have tried to reform it (but she couldnā€™t communicate) and Rishi didnā€™t dare do anything at all.

      I only pray that the damage done is so obvious to the British householder (a property tax would loose every single property owners vote in short order) this bunch of idiots get voted out as they make the last lot look like geniuses – and they werenā€™t great.

      I fear for defence as Reeves is determined to stuff the unions mouths with gold and will repeat Brownian motion of money away from everything g else to schools and hospitals.

      • The benefits bill is out of control because nobody has the balls to acknowledge what is destroying this country. The ever growing subclass of unemployable feral parasites that eat up billions in crime, benefits, social care and health bills. They will eventually sink this country.

        • The greater irony is that Bevan himself railed against the slackers and scrounged which was why the insurance was only available against The Stamp.

          I do wish we could go back to a simple system like that – it encourages people to put into a system to get out of it. Rolling back NI for those on low incomes is, in my view, regressive as it reinforces the handouts culture.

          Having a large zero tax band just makes sure that the next bit of income is off books. It isnā€™t hard to figure out what is going on.

          • NI has a lower threshold.

            Class 1 National Insurance thresholds
            Class 1 National Insurance thresholds 2024 to 2025
            Lower earnings limit Ā£123 per week Ā£533 per month Ā£6,396 per year
            Primary threshold Ā£242 per week Ā£1,048 per month Ā£12,570 per year
            Secondary threshold Ā£175 per week Ā£758 per month Ā£9,100 per year

            ā€œ Earnings below the weekly/monthly thresholds
            If you have earnings above the lower earnings limit (Ā£123 per week or Ā£533 per month for 2024/25) but below the primary threshold (Ā£242 per week or Ā£1,048 per month for 2024/25) you are treated as having paid NICs without actually having to make a payment.ā€

            What Iā€™m saying is that I support a connection between paying in and getting out of the system. As was intended by its founding fathers!

            It was called National INSURANCE for a reason it wasnā€™t called National Free Handouts.

        • Yep 100%, we should bring back the “Poor Houses” of Dickens’s era.
          I pay more tax than 40orso% of this country’s “people” earn and an infinite amount more than the slackers.

        • happening all over the west. there is no way its not by design. notably china seems to be the only major power not doing everything they can to fill their country up with people who hate them and refuse to work. interesting that…

        • In Stalimer eyes Net Zero and refugees Come before defending the UK any avaible monies will also be needed for the unions up and coming pay deals As usual defence comes after Hotel bills ( Being Sarcastic)

        • 100% correct and in full agreement. The Welfare State was never an achievable dream as it keeps getting added too with each new dawn. Better to stop and reverse some and make those that can actually earn their crust from those of us that pay in. NO FREE CASH for any as all can contribute in someway to the State.

        • Yeah, pensioners are expensive, huh.

          Hoovering up social care and health benefits, we should do something about it.

      • Toryā€™s are in government for 14 years and had a majority of 80 yet some how itā€™s labours fault the benefit bill is so large.

        Just checking your not actually Liz Truss šŸ˜€

        • I think he was more or less implying this country has a uniparty which has the same equally ineffective policy (at best – or at worst, actively despises the British people) regardless of the colour rosette on their lapels

      • The truth is, this Two Tier Keir (TTK) bunch are all anti-British. Their vote base consists of marxists and jihad minded immigrants. The current uprising is a direct response to their anti-British attitude and behaviour. There is no way they can see out a full term in office without there being a full blown civil war.

        • I donā€™t agree with the civil war idea but come the council elections in 2 years I can see the ballot box taking a big swipe at Kier.

          He canā€™t lead and he cannot communicate passion. Flat intonation etc. The only reason he won was that the Tories had made themselves very toxic with their inability to choose and stick with a decent leader.

          • All you have to do is look at voter turnout and the vote share and it wouldn’t take too much to reverse Labours victory.

          • I agree – it was mostly a protest vote.

            Sick of Conservative infighting and lack of discipline.

            Unfortunately what we are now seeing is utterly clueless leadership with no discernible policies other than massive public sector pay rises without any thought of reforms.

          • Agree Starmer is not a charismatic speaker. But he is a good leader. The way he got on top of the riots was top drawer officer material. He asked for effort and sacrifice and people responded; he rolled his sleeves up and got on top of what could have been a very nasty situation that would have trashed this countyā€™s international reputation.
            What too few people have grasped is that the world has changed and the traditional ways of doing things and ideologies are no longer effective. The British electorate sensed this at the election – canā€™t put a finger on it but something doesnā€™t add up – so they gave labour a chance. Labour will not implement traditional socialism but rather the newer economic thinking which I understand involves partnership of government, the market, labour and public services. The Thatcherite inspired incentives which encouraged rent seeking behaviours will be reversed. So for example in the budget we can expect any extra tax revenue to be raised from unearned income.
            People learned from Boris that passion doesnā€™t necessarily mean fair or good.

        • I think we’re too neutered for a civil war. Like the rest of the West, we went below the waves without even a whimper

          • Do not underestimate the bulldog spirit Levi. Slow to rise but unstoppable when mobilised. In our democracy a would be totalitarian marxist bunch like Two Tier Keir, can only play “whack-a-mole” for so long before things backfire. Just take a look at the current demonstrations on the streets and the ordinary people taking part. The realm is polarising before our eyes. With those at the festering root of the problem showing their true barbaric culture once again. Even the woke media cannot hide what is going on.

            Pin some hope on a leader such as Farage, to give the disgruntled majority a way to express their anger without civil war. He is already being called the last great hope for our democracy. Otherwise things will become nasty, very quickly. If TTK continues locking up old ladies as far right thugs. How long before every last one of us takes to the streets and martial law is declared?

            This makes the lefty riots against Lady Thatcher’s Poll Tax, look like a kids tea party. I’m not sure if Farage has the testicular fortitude for the job. But we true British will just wait and see with crossed fingers. If he fails, all bets are off. One good thing is T Blair (war criminal) will see the fruits of his anti-right unlimited immigration policy destroy Great Britain. From a cell in the Tower of London.

      • No argument from me SB. The tragic thing is, I don’t think there is going to be improvement in schools or what they teach or the NHS. Everybody except the politicins know that the NHS has been sliding out of control for thirty years or more. They are all afraid or incapable of doing anything.

    • Yes, I read that today too. Labour up to their old tricks already; they didnā€™t take long!! Reeves is hell-bent on raiding whatā€™s left of the defence budget kitty. Rumours are also circulating that she is considering taking hundreds of millions out of the defence research budget to pay for benefits/campaign promises.

      So much for getting to 2.5% of GDP – never going to happen. Sunak was awful to be sure – but Labour are going to kill defence!

      • Telegraph is just making up nonsense, the defence review has not happened and defence spending along with health and education is ring fenced.

        • Hi Jim,

          To my knowledge, defence spending has never been ring fenced – even though it most definitely should be. Both Labour and Conservative governments were quite happy to cut defence spending to protect those budgets that are ring fenced – like Foreign Aid (thank you for that one Cameron!!).

          If I am wrong Jim, I am happy to be so.

          • Just heard today Labour have have poured more money in the Foreign Aid budget to make up what the Conservative government cut šŸ™„ ( let’s just give it away ) šŸ’°šŸ’°šŸ’°šŸ’°šŸ’°šŸ’°šŸ’° šŸ˜Ÿ

          • It will be interesting to see which groups they consider worthy of our aid. Would you wager against it being the Gaza terrorists and the Ukrainian oligarchs.

            I’m waiting for Two Tier (TTK) to be sacked by the left wing of the party, having served his purpose. While they invite Jeremy Trots Corbyn back as leader/chief Imam/general secretary. Renaming the Cabinet the Politburo.

          • I believe that the ring fence for foreign aid was removed. I dint think defence is ring fenced ether

          • Hi Simon,

            Sunak did temporarily lift the Foreign Aid budget ring fencing with the stated aim of reinstating when the economy picked up. He reduced it from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5%. Not sure if it ever went back up (hopefully not!).

          • If it was spent with UK firms and organisations helping those in actual need then the World would benefit but so much of it is wasted and goes into pockets of the corrupt that few actually benefit from the money given away. Purchase 2 or 3 Aid Ships and the UK Armed Forces man then with Civilian organisations bringing their expertise to the show to help others and NOT out of the MOD Budget. Lots of benefits including recruitment as when your helping folks you feel better and that is a positive thing for the young we need in Uniform etc etc

          • Good idea about the aid ships but not using British taxpayers money. Just charitable donations from those who can afford it. A job for the merchant boys and girls me thinks.

            I’m not sure about the boy scout woke “helping others” being the motivation I want for fighting men. We need to recruit and/or produce tough nasty b’stards for the job of locating, closing with and killing our enemies. To be used like a sledge hammer without mercy or remorse.

            BTW I’m available for motivational business courses and kids parties. šŸ˜”šŸ˜”šŸ˜”

          • Defence spending should be ringfenced and set at least 7.5% of GDP. Why?
            Defence of the Realm is the primary duty of HM Gov. as delegated by our monarchy. Everything else is dependant on it. No defence means no borders and no country. Although the current uprising on the streets is a response to what happens when borders and values are not properly defended. It’s only the Veterans community that seems to understand or care.

          • Quick point of clarification. As much as we might not like the distinction, Defence of the Realm is NOT the primary duty of government. SECURITY of the state is.

            That is far more wide ranging, political security, financial security, military security, health etc etc.

          • I strongly disagree. To “labour” the point, pun intended: Political, financial, health and education “security” of the Realm. Can only be addressed once a realm (country ruled by a monarchy) has been defined by it’s borders. It’s subjects being those people contained within said borders. No borders means no realm to finance, educate etc. Therefore the establishment and defence of borders, must come first.

            Defence is the primary duty of HM Gov. British governments since WWII have been permitted to slowly forget that most basic duty. In the 21st century we cannot even deny access to illegal immigrants, never mind armed invaders.

          • You can strongly disagree if you like. However, ā€˜The Stateā€™ is a defined term in international politics that forms the bedrock of international order.

            States literally exist to provide security for their population, that is the contract that exists between the population and their government.

            If the state allows its economy to collapse, food resources to run out, etc etc – it doesnā€™t matter how strong its military is, the state will collapse.

            Defence is just a part of the equation and all governments have to hold that in balance.

            I donā€™t believe our government is holding it in balance by the way, I think they havenā€™t prioritised defence sufficiently and are therefore risking security.

          • I will continue to disagree. International politic and accepted legal definitions, only exist because of cooperation between established peer nation states. They simply would not exist without defined and defended borders. Therefore my argument stands.

            Not all states are democracies. Not all governments hold the wellbeing of their populace above the wellbeing of the state or ruling party. You know of whom I speak. With one of those belligerents across the border, defence is even more important. I’m happy to kick this ball around indefinitely but suggest that we simply acknowledge each others opinion, agree to differ and move on like gentlemen.

          • I agree with what you say George but 7.5% on defence ? never going to happen my friend ,maybe 4-5% should be the case but very unlikely .When new governments come into power the word Defence of the Realm ? In other words look after every other nation but our selfs šŸ™„

          • I fully understand your point Andrew. We do care more about other countries and peoples than our own. For example Ukraine and those pale stinians.

            What should happen and what will happen in this failing state of ours are two different things. Because the wrong people are in charge with the wrong priorities. Even at 7.5% it would take us a very long time to rebuild a sustainable military. Along with the equally important industrial infrastructure to go with it. I can argue the latter is even more important for the realm.

            “What should happen and what will happen in this failing state of ours are two different things.” – Is yet another example of the strengths of a parliamentary democracy becoming its greatest weakness. At least that is what happens when ill intentioned socialism/marxism takes root.

        • If the miracle you’re suggesting happens I will find away of buying you a pint if only on paper! ļ»æšŸŗļ»æļ»æšŸ˜‰ļ»æ

      • Yes. I’ve read both and more but we shall have to wait I suppose. All I know for sure is that every labour govt. in my lifetime has cut defence spending within a year of taking office.

    • One rumour is that the Treasury have asked the MoD to choose between 72 F-35s versus 48 and Tempest. Several newspaper articles guessing what Ms Reeves will do in the budget to balance the books. Taxing capital gains at the same rate as incomes and limiting the tax allowance on pension contributions to the basic rate would break the back of the problem. Lots of other speculation – and she could relax borrowing rules. Sheā€™s a clever girl – Oxford PPE and MSc from LSE. Worked for the Bank of England. She will act to facilitate business growth and protect the weakest in society, and the defence budget.

      • A non choice.

        ā€œbetween 72 F-35s versus 48 and Tempestā€

        72 F35B is the minimum for the whole thing to make sense and make sense of QEC + Carrier Strike

        Tempest is about having a defence manufacturing industry that can design and make 6th Gen planes.

        USA probably wonā€™t export its next iteration and joining the usual Franco German Euro farce isnā€™t a solution.

        • I would imaging that the US probably will try and export at least one of its 6th generation offers..it suffered a very painful lesson with the F22ā€¦

          Infact it would not surprise me at all if the Tempest project does not merge into the US F/A XX programme as Iā€™m not sure there is really a market for 4 6th fighters in the westā€¦

          One of the problems these are probably not going to be fighters that can be sold to neutral parties ( as the 4.5 gens were).

          There is also a bit of an issue with Japan as a parter as there is a lot of political arguments around changing laws to allow tempest to be exported as the UK and Italy want to doā€¦and Japan cannot at present in law.

          • Maybe.

            But you have answered your own point?

            6th Gen doesnā€™t go to neutrals so what is the export market?

            The problem for us is having control so we can control costs, direction and timescales. The Italians wonā€™t let costs go crazy either.

            If anything it will keep the US costs sensible.

            Trump, I canā€™t believe Iā€™m actually saying this, wasnā€™t too far wrong when he questioned why QEC was so much cheaper than Ford class. OK QEC is a very pared back design but even if you added SAMPSON, armour, nuclear and EMALS you donā€™t get to a Ford Class number.

            But he is a Tangerine Tinted Buffoon for clarity.

          • Well there are a fair number of friendly nations..and the Japanese are having the argument

            their priminister stated to the house of councils that the UK and Italy

            “consider promoting the transfer of finished products to third countries to lower procurement prices as an important element of their contribution, and [they have] requested that Japan take a similar response.ā€

            The ruling coalition is presently arguing about relaxing japans arms export rules to allow the jet to be exported to comply with UK and Italian wishes..but the Komeito party will not sign off on it and are having a proper bunfight with the Liberal Democrat party who lead the coalition and need the rule changes to keep the programme on track.

          • There is absolutely no way the US will approve NGAD for export. Not exporting the F-22 had absolutely nothing to do with its high cost. Its high cost was due to the bone headedness of then US Secretary of Defense, Bill Gates, who stated that the F-22 would not contribute to future war scenarios the US might face. He then obtained Congressional approval to slash F-22 procurement by more than half. Gates was one of the worst Secretaries of Defense in US history, rivaled only by Robert Strange McNamara.

          • There are two US sixth generation programmesā€¦i said they would export at least oneā€¦they would be quite frankly geostrategically incompetent to not give their allies access to at least one of the programmes.

          • The Tempest even looks like an enlarged twin engined F35C. Hope the UK doesn’t throw away all its investment into Tempest just for a handful of extra F35s plus the ongoing relationship with Japan and Italy. Why not a partnership with the US and or Europe? Rename it the “Union”? It could be quite a coup and could build on Aukus or EU/Airbus relations and have more long term gains with tech sharing and weapon purchases.
            Why isn’t the Dreadnought SSBN budget being looked at for trimmings?
            My 5c (AUD) worth..

        • Mate, you are thinking of this in a purely military way. Ms Reeves isn’t – she is thinking in an economic and a political way – very different…and Starmer will back Reeves. John Healey won’t get a proper ‘look in’ until SDR reports.

          • Iā€™m thinking economics.

            No Tempest means closing a lot of high tech facilities.

            That isnā€™t good economics and doesnā€™t make for growth in high value manufacturing. I donā€™t think the unions would be too happy either.

          • I think your correct..unless they find a different programme for Uk workshare they will keep the programmeā€¦from what I have read though there is a move to make the programme more commercially viable as an exportā€¦

        • True.

          Not having Tempest will cost even more as we get locked into something else Uber expensive that we canā€™t control.

          • And we would lose the British aerospace industry, which is one of the last sectors we truly are leaders in

        • Yeh, reading the article the DT is quotes ā€˜defence sourcesā€™ hearsay gossip about discussions in the MoD. The MoD itself has said nothing will be said until the outcome of the defence review. Pretty standard Telegraph click bait.

      • What has she done so far to boost business growth?
        Why would she feel a compunction to protect the defence budget, in preference to the Education, Health and Welfare budgets?

        • As far as I know Ms Reeves has done nothing thus far in government to promote business growth. Her first task is to balance the books. As they say, growth is vanity, profit is sanity. That said their manifesto commitment to fixing corporation tax for the length of the parliament was a big help in getting business to back labour. That said her colleagues have set up some vehicles and removed impediments which are intended to facilitate growth in infrastructure sectors.
          My impression is that labour do not see spending just as a zero sum game. As evidenced by the decisions on the 2 child benefit cap and winter fuel allowance it looks like the pain to come will be shared and everyone will be expected to find creative solutions to problems. Necessity is the mother of invention looks like the order of the day.

      • Rishi Sunak has an Honours Degree from Oxford and a Masters in Business and Economics from Stamford. So on that basis we should have kept him. Also there are no books to balance. She knew about the budget and borrowing figures six months ago. The other and biggest problem is what she does to tax. The ones you mentiion do not in themselves make sense and they are only the tip of the iceberg. As for defence it will be cut. Gauranteed.

        • Rishi Sunak is a very bright guy and a decent person. He drew the short straw is trying to clear up the Johnson – Truss mess and the rudderless decade before that. That said I think the fees at Winchester college are about Ā£40k a year. His GP and pharmacist parents certainly expected something for their money. What needs to be appreciated is that Sunakā€™s world view shaped by his upbringing results in a quite different character and morivations. This is a quote from an interview given by Rachel Reeves to the Church Times.

          ā€œI think that we all bring to our jobs those things that make us who we are. Those experiences, for me, of working with my grandma and grandad in the school holidays in a Salvation Army shop, that did have an impact on me. This strong belief that my parents instilled in me, and my grandparents, that you shouldnā€™t just take, you should always give something back, thatā€™s had a big impact.ā€

          • Well, I hope you’re right Paul. I actually got my pocket money working on a fruit and veg. stall in the sixties so maybe R.R. and I have that in commom at least. The problem I have is what she has done to date. I am a pensioner and my daughter has taken over our business. We nearly got wiped out because of Covid and it’s taken four years to get back to half our original turnover and so far she has hindered rather than helped. We will have to see in the budget but from what is being said I am not hoopeful.

    • The things is that the D.T are coming up with this sort stuff every week. Let see what happens. and coming from a paper who thought that the most importunate policy change was to increase the inheritance tax threshold to Ā£5million

      • I did put a ļ»æšŸ˜ļ»æin when I mentioned the D.T. We’ll just have to wait for the Strategic Defence Cuts Review next year.

        • My parents read the D.T for 30 + years ( which I also got to read it) It seems to me that over the last 15 years it seems to have lost the plot TBH and started sprouting all sorts of odd views

          • Wouldn’t argue with that Simon. I think a lot of papers have gone for click bait rather than good jounalism.ļ»æšŸ˜ļ»æ

  3. I wonder what the reason for mounting the two (ASRAAM?) missiles externally is? All the photos Iā€™ve seen from this Icelandic deployment have them on the outer pylons.
    Is it because they donā€™t work in the internal weapons bay yet, or is it an attempt to disguise the radar signature?

    • They aren’t certified for use from the weapons bay. Sidewinders can’t handle an ejection launch so they can’t go in the weapons bay. Originally the UK requested that they be able to put 4 ASRAAMs in the weapons bay. They were told they’d have to settle for two outside and two inside, and pictures of the ASRAAM separation from the weapons bay being tested in a wind tunnel in 2008 can be found online.

      ASRAAM at the time also wasn’t ejectable and would have needed a launch rail, which was planned (if I had to guess, I’d say that was the reason for the 2 in 2 out limit). Cameron’s consideration of using F-35C instead of F-35B was used as an excuse to cancel the work on the launch rail, and by the time he’d stopped vacillating, L-M said it had to be cancelled to meet budget constraints.

      Having a UK missile that does roughly the same thing as an American one but more flexibly, was never going to make it onto the F-35’s missile priority list. That would be my guess as to why the weapons bay ASRAAMs never happened. Okay that’s a bit conspiracy theory-ish. Nevertheless.

      • Well it’s interesting argument F35b or F35c .However the Italian navy carrier has a mix of F35bs and Harrier AV -8b on there flight deck .Does make one think it would of been wise to keep our Harriers till F35b were available in numbers if it ever happens .But like all HMG governments head in the sand šŸ˜ž

        • The US has both too. Wondering if buying some “good secondhand” F35Bs, if there’re any, from the US and doing them up in the UK is an “op”-tion?

  4. Doing this out of Keflavik is not that newsworthy. Do it from somewhere like VopnafjƶrĆ°ur and Iā€™m interested.

    • Why? What would be the interest there? VopnafjƶrĆ°ur airport has a nearly 3000 ft runway, and the USS Wasp has been launching F-35Bs from about 650 ft for years. Besides, it might disturb the salmon fishing.

  5. Itā€™s really shows the benefits of the 35b for a small island that cannot move its front line aircraft back from risk..one of the first thing Russia would likely do is hit the UKs fixed infrastructure ( after all Russian missiles are not very accurate, but 10,000 feet of runway is a big target)ā€¦.the ability of the F35b to be run of short runways allowing wider dispersed would make suppressing the RAF far more difficultā€¦.add in a carrier floating around as well as escorts with decent air defence systems and it becomes impossible to suppress the UKs air defenceā€¦where as air defence based just on typhoon chained to 10,000 runways could be.

  6. I don’t understand the point of this article except to keep the F35 in the news. Ops from Kef don’t require a short take off and landing it has nothing to do with Iceland’s Defence which is a NATO op using all sorts of fighters from the differing Nations. The whole world knows that the F35B has a STOVL capability and like all short take off capabilities , weapons load , fuel load and distance to intended area of ops all part of STOVL planning. OPs from Kef are very straightforward except for the weather and the Typhoon is by far and away the better aircraft to perform the sort of QRA activity needed in the area. If the RAF are anxious to demo the F35B why not operate it STOVL from a UK road (if the surface can take the heat blast from the engine) or ex RAF airfield (there are still dozens in the UK) they would get a much bigger PR boost from UK media.

    • Sadly a lot of “reporting” on this site is white noise to keep readership numbers up. And F35 use in this role is just a PR stunt. It lacks legs an an interceptor, and armament is laughable. For F35 read “UK shafted by US again”.

  7. There is an excellent video from Godfrey Bloom on the you tubes. Entitled Broken, Defeated, Woke & Hopeless. We should all watch it and think long and hard.

  8. “The mission, involving RAF pilots from 617 Squadron,”
    “This collective task involves the continuous presence of fighter aircraft and crews”

    Good to see that the pilots can now maintain their own aircraft plus support themselves with catering, admin, transport and all the other tasks required to support a deployment to another base!

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