RAF Pilot performs first UK takeoff of F-35B Lightning at sea

Squadron Leader Jim Schofield performs the first short takeoff at sea in a F-35B aircraft onboard USS Wasp.

[@TheLeadSled]

The RAF have excellent pilots, once the US and UK squadrons are fully loaded with these birds it'll be a hard one to knock down!

[@ParaBellum-cw7fs]

Loving how every one here is a expert on this. I'm pretty sure the RAF and the RN know what they're doing in fact I'd put money on it.

[@pigletjnr]

ah the RAF and RN may know what they`re doing but do the tossots in westminster know what they`re doing?

[@wiryantirta]

the RAF and RN/Fleet Air Arms probably know what they're doing and know what they need. Politicians however...

[@dantaylor7344]

Everyone not every one. You're clearly not an expert speller, although that did not require English expertise.

[@riojonmejares8996]

I'm excited to see these F-35B taking of from HMS Queen Elizabeth class Carriers! I love this kind of aircraft because it can do short takeoffs and vertical landing. Goodluck to Royal Navy and RAF!

[@Moh-dn8dg]

+Jan Mejares LOOOOOOOOOOl , this is the worst aurcraft ,

[@bluerewind7044]

+Mohamed Zennou insult the aircraft when you can spell the word aircraft...

[@Moh-dn8dg]

Blue Rewind * jet fighter

[@bluerewind7044]

Yeah the F-35 IIB Lightning is really good at doing everything

[@Moh-dn8dg]

Speed is not important for fighter planes (the fastest fighter planes are 3rd gen). This fighter plane costs very expensive, it is very often maintenance should perform lorqu'il's nice flight (it's a shame it often rains in England and I have experienced). eandt.theiet.org/news/2014/jul/images/f35-stealth.jpg. Too bad the HMS Queen Elizabeth will have only had 3/4 f-35 which will be down for maintenance

[@StreetFighterFan86]

With the US and UK using this jet along with our new Carrier class ships(Ford and Queen Elizabeth), who dares attack the Anglo-American alliance?!

[@Samy27071999]

***** france beats u

[@StreetFighterFan86]

***** The Anglo part stands for the British part of the alliance, go ahead and look it up. See when the term was invented, the British Empire was still in existence, and yes the Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish are included in that. See you are all a United Kingdom, it would be like Californians bitching that they are not included in the name of the Anglo-American alliance. They need not be named because they are part of the United States, just like the other territories like the Scots are included in the United Kingdom. Otherwise the alliance would have a massively long name and would sound retarded, in short just stop bitching about something so stupid and pointless and shut up and enjoy being apart of the alliance.

[@Toolpusher]

American Eagle Sorry, but I have to pull you right up on that one. "Anglo", whilst it has become an accepted term in this context, means one thing only; a reference to the Angles who came from the (now) area of Germany and took over southern Brittania after the Roman withdrawal. England was named after them. Not Scotland. Not Wales. Certainly not Northern Ireland. Using the term "Anglo" is merely symptomatic of the tendency of some ignorant folk from the USA to refer to the whole of the UK as "England". The best and simplest way to describe the UK, apart from Northern Ireland, is British. The ancient Britons ruled a huge swathe of this island before the Romans came; from southern Scotland, including Edinburgh, where I'm from, right down through all of western Britain and encompassing what we now call Wales. They were the ancient Britons, and, as a Celtic people, they spoke a very old form of Welsh. The Scots, or Scoti, were Irish migrants, and didn't feature in my neck of the woods till a long time later. So you see; referring to us as British is not only socially and culturally appropriate-it arouses the deep ancient in us. ;)

[@Toolpusher]

Sam Airgun It's not a game of Top Trumps son.

[@Samy27071999]

***** yes I know that better than you if you want to know bitch

[@zeev613]

A jet that can do a short takeoff from a carrier without a catapult. Rather impressive.

[@georgemarsh9639]

Yep and fully loaded. Its amazing. That means the little Italian Garibaldi can be turned into a real aircraft carrier. NATO + France will pack the Mediterranean and Baltics with carriers. The downside is what do you do with the US 6th Fleet?

[@julianneale6128]

I dont like the way everyone is seemingly told to talk about just how bad the Harrier was, when it simply wasn't.

[@lenfirewood4089]

Well the Harrier was developed over 50years ago and "fly by wire" wasn't available for such a complex set of tasks back then.

[@julianneale6128]

@Blob B part of the problem is that the Brits used experienced fast jet pilots which was fine. The USA did the same but then started transitioning rotary wing pilots to the Harrier, and that's when a lot of accidents happened.

[@valerie80yearsago90]

So cool to see it perform night ops at 2:06 with the night vision infrared. It looks so badass!

[@TheJmiller1993]

Those short takeoffs are mad. Like the first time I saw a harrier floating I was in awe.

[@iainlewis9635]

Great to see this moment, As a Brit it makes me proud to see after following her progress all these years. Lets hope HMG increases funding for the MOD and allows us to invest in some more escorts for the RN

[@James7Nam]

Great job!^&*Good luck!

[@petersouthernboy6327]

The performance of F-35 during the Red Flag 2017 exercises against the best Gen 4 fighters was truly exceptional - gaudy in fact.

[@hamsterbacke5962]

Not Really

[@meeware]

That is quite remarkably good camera work- nicely shot and edited.

[@renovatio1257]

The F-35 is an amazing aircraft that will revolutionize air combat. 🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@baikal627]

Every system has gremlins to start when its sorted it s gonna be a good aircraft i think we will see

[@gismofly2847]

Nicely done. Reassuring. Good luck to all who fly the new Lighting.

[@allgood6760]

Awesome... Thanks from NZ 🇳🇿👍

[@wearethemoos]

I love this jet. For those complaining about cost, just look at the current situation in the Crimea. That is getting scary and I wouldn't put it past Putin to try and take it further. I want the best equipment and training available to our guys if the shit hits the fan. Putin has tried sending 2 bombers into UK airspace earlier this week, so it's good to know we can show them how fast we could take them out

[@OversquareGoon]

well said!

[@wearethemoos]

Jimbob briars Thanks Jimbob. I just hope I'm wrong about needing them

[@OversquareGoon]

Simon Moore i can agree with that to

[@pointblank6]

To be fair its not something new, I've heard about russian planes entering UK airspace before, they do it just to test reaction times. I think i heard about a russian ship getting quite close to the scotish coast as well not that long ago.

[@wearethemoos]

redcoat59 Putin started his flights and ships to test reaction times when he became president. The difference this time is that he wasn't being pressured by NATO over invading a neighbour!

[@samwalker4062]

Us and uk baby

[@jackydefo]

F-35 is going to be at my local air show this year cant wait!

[@bambang303378]

Awesome video.

[@Gibbo263]

Read a comment further down. The Typhoon already has facilities for an arrester hook. But British carriers aren't fitted with catapults hence the requirements for VTOL or a ramp

[@armchairgeneral7557]

I assume the arrestor hooks you speak of are the safety hooks in case of emergency. The f-35a has these as well but they are intended for one time use only for emergency. The catobar hooks for us carriers are designed for continuous use such as the ones on the c model. The a model isn't designed for crier use. Landing gear and wings are not ideal.

[@Gibbo263]

Obviously you wouldn't be able to simply take an existing Typhoon and land it on a carrier, the air frame would have to be navalised (stronger landing gear, fold-able and slightly longer wings) it would then be possible to be used as a naval aircraft

[@Pantone2695]

Gibbo263 Not quite. People seem to forget that you can't just add an arresting hook and beef up the landing gear and make the wings foldable and bigger and take it to sea. One of the most important things to add is to make the aircraft impervious to the salt air and ocean spray. Taking a navalized plane and adopting it to land is easy (F-18) but taking a land based aircraft and adopting it for sea is very hard and costly....or you would have seen the F-15 and F-16 launching from carriers already.

[@binaway]

The Typhoon is just not carrier compatible.

[@joshualee3144]

All the people dissing the f-35 give it a rest. Despite what you think, you're not a professional when it comes to these matters. If your government wants the f-35 then they're going to get it.

[@apigthatflies]

Finally, someone else sick of the armchair generals and Xbox aces. It's nice to have some operational knowledge, it makes it easier to laugh at these comments.

[@christopherwiseman1537]

Joshua Lee There's no alternative because of the monumental cock-up of not designing catapults into the 2 new carriers. It's sad - a plane inferior to the F-35A and C in all performance envelopes on our new carriers, and no F-35 is ever going to make it as a successful fighter.

[@EnglishTurbines]

Joshua Lee Christopher Wiseman.....Could not have put it better myself....The F35B is an overrated, overpriced fat lemon of a bird, truly awful.

[@EnglishTurbines]

Monster LMA Just look at the specs, I suspect that wont be revealing enough for you though...If you think a 144 mile missile range is in some way impressive, then that speaks volumes regarding your nievity. ..You are part of the group who thinks Stealth will allow long range "kills"...it wont.

[@cacambell72]

+Christopher Wiseman VTOL doesn't need catapults!

[@movindivend5447]

Wow, that's something very impressive the way it landed

[@pagongtagi6124]

Man, the smell of the new cushions must be wonderful!

[@tpgear321]

Is this in use for the UK now?

[@andrian007]

It's going to be a while, likely to be 2020, assuming no further delays. Could be a while longer before we have the full carrier strike group ready.

[@tpgear321]

No one will mess with us

[@tvanb8729]

Alex May except for the budget cuts

[@Toolpusher]

Teun Van Blaricum Exactly, that's the thing. The Govt. will apparently have another big strategic defence review next year. (I think we can take that as a given, Labour are in no state to govern yet) This will decide whether or not the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales will enter full RN service, amongst other things, including the Type 26 Global Combat Ship. The economy seems to be right on the up, so we'll have to wait and see...

[@seanyboyo1969]

Andrian Harsono Britain got our first F35's last year! We are now training pilots with the British F35 aircraft & new state of the art systems in America! They have been paid for & are actually on the MOD books, the carrier QE will be afloat & fully fitted out by 2016 & undergoing sea trials from 2015-16, ,fully operational by 2018 with our first F35's, the 2nd carrier is due to be operational in 2020, so that's when we'll have 2 supper carriers + with their complements of combined arms RAF & Fleet Air Arm F35's! Let's remember that Britain still has 1 Invincible class carrier & a Helicopter assault Carrier, HMS Invincible & HMS Ocean, both of these can also take the F35 at a pinch!

[@Exige000]

Fantastic planes but I wonder if these aircraft will be used for military or postal service , as there seems to be so much talk about envelopes!!!

[@filipematossilva1154]

Nice video. Congratulations

[@gaelw7321]

note that F-35 is the next gen of air to air, air to ground and recon. its an advance multipurpose plane with amazing tech ware

[@jerrycrus]

no one beats Harrier done on falkland war

[@barracuda7018]

Sure but with US supplied SIDEWINDER missiles otherwise Mirage III would have kicked its ass. I read a long conversation between a RAF Harrier pilot and Australian Mirage III pilot at the end of which they both agreed that Mirage III would have enjoyed decisive advantage over the HARRIER without SIDEWINDER.

[@superancientmariner1394]

barracuda7018 And IF the Queen had balls, she would be king. I'm surprised at you,Kipper, using the old Would've, Could've, Should've. Might've argument. And those missiles came, not from the US, but from the NATO weapons cache at RAF Ascension,and were replaced with British owned sidewinders....facts.which you never seem to mention.

[@snatchhog]

the harrier was and is a piece of crap -the falklands was saved by better british pilots and really MORE by the inept opposition! -

[@superancientmariner1394]

***** Woah...."Both sides were trained by the same people" ? Would you care to elaborate.

[@superancientmariner1394]

***** Oh I got it the first time. When I said elaborate I meant when and where did the RAF ever train Argentine pilots. Also ..."both sides were trained by the same people lol.". It is fair to assume that the RAF trained itself and not by a third party, as your statement suggested. ·

[@Wiitoo]

Still prefer the harrier

[@USN1985dos]

It's actually a sign of respect as well as trust. Typically the ground crew/deck hands are the last allied personnel a pilot is going to see before he flies a combat mission, and if he dies on that mission then it will be the last salute he receives.

[@davideverett2]

My son just had his 16th birthday and as I tell him now would be a good time to join the Royal Navy.

[@gummipalle]

Theres a lot of issues surrounding this air-craft.... I'm not sold on it yet... I'm concerned its just a huge waste of effort.... My country (DK) has (to my knowledge) NEVER lost a single plane to enemy fire.... So it seems pretty wastefull to not just fly something more... accessable.... Like the grippen or scimilar.... (plus we would be buying from sweden, nicer than americans ;-) ) I think a cheaper f35 competitor with jammer pods and decoys, more support from long range missiles and such might be as effective at dropping standard 500 pounders on fox-holes in the desert... I mean, if russia or china go all out on us, its not going to matter that a couple of jets are hard to detect, you know? One night of missile attacks will level all the supporting infra-structure... We'll fly one mission, and thats it, game over... Why all the hype for this plane? Surely the weapon-tech can fit in a cheaper frame? Surely the swedish planes can bomb some mud-huts..! At a fraction of the cost..? Each of these is a friggin hospital we could have had... Or a school full of computers....

[@scottishjh]

I totally agree with everything you say, as a Scottish person it sickens me to see billions being spent on redundant way overpriced crap. We are broke, cheaper Swedish or French aircraft make more sense even if they don't have all the pointless belts and whistles. We need to work with our close neighbours, share knowledge, have intrigated infrastructure and promote each other. And more importantly stop believing American propaganda all they want is $.

[@progx8679]

jim henderson Clueless , try stop reading your leftist/ socialist propaganda !!!!!!!!!!!!! USMC 24th MEU/ Semper Fi

[@gummipalle]

Prog X gross! its an american! EWWWW!

[@progx8679]

Frabbledabble ???

[@gummipalle]

Prog X You sound american, its revolting, hence the "ewww" .....

[@Moh-dn8dg]

poor English, when you discovered that you have two aircraft carriers filled with unnecessary f-35

[@TheLatino65]

+Mohamed Zennou - I suggest you worry about your own country wherever that may be. The "English" are doing just fine without you. Please try and learn some decent English.

[@Moh-dn8dg]

TheLatino65 sorry this is google translate, you're Latino ?? , You are in Argentina?

[@TheLatino65]

+Mohamed Zennou - Oh no, no, no, please no, Please don't insult me in thinking that I'm Argentinian. Please don't bring up any conflict from 1982. The topic of this video is "RAF Pilot performs first UK takeoff of F-35B Lightning at sea".

[@TheLatino65]

+Mohamed Zennou - I thought I said "don't bring up any conflict from 1982". It would be out of topic. ...there is just one born every minute...

[@Moh-dn8dg]

TheLatino65 you're right, at least the French army is independent

[@iangilbert6820]

Just found this, Jim. You make it look easy. Ian G

[@monza1002000]

That is the "cold air intake" for the vertical lift fan. For a short take off this will be open to obtain air for the fan. The Harrier was unable to hit mach speeds because of large side air ducts, having this vent on top allows the F35 to go supersonic.

[@Wayoutthere]

lovely...but with that fat belly loaded with a second turbofan it won't be able to carry any meaningful amount of weaponry like the F-18's..

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

The F-18 can't hover like the F-35B.

[@muppetrowlf1473]

Britain should have partnered McDonnell with F/A-18 like we were offered. We went on to produce the ridiculous Europhoon. Which is the most costly, underdeveloped Lemon of them all. Instead, Britain's fleet air arm are now desperate for this aircraft as they fly nothing since 2010. The RAF can't afford to buy enough Europhoons and are starting to retire 53 of them! So all we want is a decent multi role fighter that can get back to something like the flexibility of the Harrier. F-35 is all there is now, so let's get on with it.

[@Wayoutthere]

muppetrolf Perhaps another expensive lemon, but at least will perform somewhat close to specs. The F-35 cannot do any role right. No carrier ops because it can't carry weight. No ground attacks because it's vulnerable, and no true air combat because it's only strength is BVR.

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

***** You are WRONG on all claims. Where did you get your so called facts? From RT I bet

[@muppetrowlf1473]

Europhoon doesn't perform. That's why we end up paying £20 billion to keep part of the RAF in aerial sports cars, while the rest of the RAF pilots tasked with the dangerous job of actually engaging the enemy in Iraq at the moment, get to fly a completely out of date shed called the Tornado!

[@Kane-ib5sn]

Get that sell-first; propaganda-type feeling industry is paying $$$ to produce this video.

[@armchairgeneral7557]

So who do you believe then? Pilots or journalists?

[@crescentthinker1667]

+Troy Burkle People like this are really annoying

[@thefreeman8791]

Come on Troy. He doesn't believe either. He has a much more reputable source in Pierre Sprey, who usually has to read from a script most likely provided to him by RT.

[@petecoo1978]

very impressive aircraft.

[@nicholasroberts6954]

Carrier take-off without catapult, with the air-brake deployed - wow. That's a powerful engine. All it needs now is variable position tailfin so that it can turn.

[@whylie74]

it's not the air-break, it's the inlet cover for the lift fan.

[@SacerKtracho]

The rear thruster does that. is movable if you haven't notice.

[@bigtoad45]

As an American who served Onboard the USS Midway let me apologize upfront for the garbage we are selling you. It's not a great plane, in fact some of the avionics are well over ten years old. There are multiple issues. Fuel heat being one. For some time it couldn't be flown within 40 miles of a thunderstorm for fear of explosion. They have spent way too much on it to admit failure. It cannot compete with your Typhoon nor any of the newest Russian/Chinese aircraft. I am so sorry. I hope the Canadians decide not to purchase this flying dodo.

[@jaysorbet]

You have to remember it was only meant to replace the Harrier, F-16, F-18, etc.

[@RGV250FORSALE]

Your honesty is refreshing.

[@nrjelley]

Why didn't the RN just buy naval modified Eurofighters? The Typhoons have already proven themselves to be one of the best jet fighters in the world, probably the best at dogfights. The F-35B is a load of shit!

[@GowthamNatarajanAI]

you are shit

[@nrjelley]

Gowtham N Thanks for the educated response!

[@GowthamNatarajanAI]

TruePrinceOfWales It is not hard to come to that conclusion.

[@nrjelley]

Gowtham N Hard for your brain to process a better response you mean?

[@GowthamNatarajanAI]

TruePrinceOfWales I said you are shit to say that a F35 is shit.

[@Ricky62430]

Its an awesome machine, after all this testing and construction problems its a final product in 2014

[@andika1937]

What was the name of the music they used for this piece?

[@AaronOwenSmith]

As an Englishman, im very proud that the RAF will be using F 35, Lockheed know what they are doing.

[@herewegoaround]

Cogratulations for the new powerful aircraft. How many meters the aircraft needs to take off?

[@exposingthedarknesswiththe9190]

. *THE FIGHTER IS AS ADVERTISED...AWESOME!!* .

[@Waldenmattfinish]

Does the UK version have the" Bomb Hospital" and "Warn ISIS we are coming" options or is that only the US models ?

[@reycolon48]

Go Britain ! That's pretty bad ass

[@Loobo2012]

The harrier will always be the legend. The harrier has proven it's self in combat and i hope this aircraft will do the same and become the proud successor of the spectacular harrier.

[@roybooton1002]

nice comment for young future pilots still at school, study hard and you will get your 'wings'

[@brettbass2605]

Unbeatable combination, American Technology and British know how, WATCH OUT WORLD!

[@scotthulsey5704]

You have two carriers coming soon.The great thing about this aircraft is it would not be hard to transform a super tanker to operate them.

[@Moh-dn8dg]

+Scott Hulsey touchscreens hard to hit with G !! too heavy a helmet, an ejection seat that can kill a driver whose weight not exceed 61 kg !! be a woman !! a computer system that is a gas plant !! enhanced reality that they imagine to be an innovative system! LOL !! unnecessary passive stealth! an engine catches fire! LOL! a ridiculous self! carrying a weapon by lamentable! and to top it all, he must be escorted by a fighter plane, except F22 for other countries, not stealth! LOL

[@bluerewind7044]

+Mohamed Zennou Im starting to think you're just a hater because the United Kingdom are getting these and the country you live in is'nt.....

[@grabir01]

wow !! Go Martin !!!

[@777Outrigger]

Heads Up Display at 0:56 ?

[@777Outrigger]

Yes. :-)

[@adolfrembart5772]

Respectable!

[@TLooker]

It's actually a sign of trust between the pilot and the deckhands, to show that they trust that one another has done their duties properly and the flight deck is clean of debris etc... (The crew on the ship are American by the way [It's an American carrier])

[@97emirates]

just a question. That panel that pops up on take off, would that not create a huge amount of drag. Not a great idea on take off, its acting like a massive spoiler.

[@rogerfournier3284]

!!ON POINT!!

[@bartsimmo1980]

Why does it take off with the air break open behind the cockpit?

[@robertbrockway6580]

That is not a air brake.

[@amct1019]

+bartsimmo1980 That's not the air brake, that an integral part of the stovl system.

[@deyvi69]

There was a song?

[@StuPat78]

On UK carriers we trusted that our deckhands did their job without any need for extra show.

[@aleccap5946]

What ship is this ?

[@apersonthatexists6429]

Very impressive and I don't want to diminish the teams achievements but the Kestrel P1127 was flying in 1960 and the Harrier entered RAF Service in 1969. The level of technology in terms of computers was very limited in those days so I would expect that the F-35B should be easier to fly with the probability to fly itself. Currently there will only be one Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carrier in service at a time because the UK cannot afford anything else. It makes one wonder if the UK Government has real commitment to this kind of program or just living on old empire memories. But good on the F35 team of Engineers - a job well done.

[@hayyouman9]

That is the cover to the lift fan. It needs to be open for obvious reasons during operation for short take offs and vertical lands. It will not, however, be open during flight.

[@henryvagincourt]

Be good to see the Royal Navy, with carrier aircraft again, the F35 the best jet for years to come.

[@darrenbell3534]

What an awsome replacement for the Harrier. And economical non VTOL variants for other countries like my home country Australia.

[@tonykennedy8483]

It's actually a tribute to both aircraft, the P38 and the classic RAF jet, to name this plane Lightning

[@aeztus]

VTOLs' are astounding. Always.

[@scottbell5019]

That's STOVL (Short Take Of Vertical Landing), not VTOL

[@Loobo2012]

Scott Bell But it can do a VTOL.

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

Loobo2012 Yes

[@krashd]

+Lobo It can only do a VTOL when carrying no payload, when they have tried it with a loaded bay the transition from level flight to forward flight takes several seconds longer and the plane crashes on it's belly a few metres down the runway. It's too heavy for a single engine. Also, weapons must be used or jettisoned before landing because the same thing would happen, so there will either be lots of things blown up unecesarily or the oceans and seas of the world will start to build a collection of missiles.

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

Rob Fraser PURE BULLSHIT and I mean bullshit. Hell kid you don't know shit about the F-35s.

[@socratease1432]

Top notch. ,

[@SacerKtracho]

I'm glad that you guys don't have to built those take off ramps on a carrier anymore.

[@AudieHolland]

Sorry for the stutterpost but I forgot to thank you for offering your apologies. Fully accepted :-) You must be one of the two persons on the internet who have ever offered their apologies. That fact alone makes you a better man than me, Sir.

[@topiramates]

Why has it got, what looks like an air brake, extended during take off?

[@greggsevern3277]

FFS! I can't believe all these comments! People saying the plane is 'shit', people giving political views, people saying it's waste of money. How do any of you know this? Can we just comment on the video & the content please.....? All this political bollocks gets on my nerves & TBH if any of the commenters actually knew anything they wouldn't be the sort of person to sit typing comments on KZbin in the first place. Great vid,showcasing the capabilities of our new jet which provides our shores (and others') with the security that we have fought to protect by land, sea & air for years. Well done armed forces. You are very brave. Thank You.

[@terryofford4977]

Negativity displays lack of knowledge, in any event, do the critics not realise that ALL the negative comments actually act in reverse, the Brits and the Americans don't always let the' Puff Adders' know the whole truth and the circulation of 'bad' news is perhaps encouraged, the clowns would of course deny they are wrong.Those who believe all the bad 'news' are not Aircrew, and such people should stick with Star Wars. and computer games.

[@TheDave31london]

i thought we (uk) wasn't getting the vetol version of this jet?

[@faduma43]

yes im goin to fly it yay yayayayayayayayayyy LOVE THIS PLANE!!!

[@jimbo250686]

@MOD Why is it an RAF pilot and not a FAA pilot doing the trials?....or have I missed something and the RAF are now carrier borne.

[@Troys221]

Awesome piece of machinery. While so many complain about this plane being useless, the same would be CRYING if the competition had developed it first. Want to know what is a waste of billions of $$$, NASA is # 1. Great plane & hope to see refinements in the future.

[@jetpigeon8758]

+tony simmons Wrong about NASA.

[@simoncunningham4096]

We've bought 48 so far, plus they are taking over from the tornado GR4.

[@1chish]

Our National Health Service came about when our Country was totally devastated by 6 years of war when our citizens, homes, factories and infrastructure were on the front line every day. Sometimes Americans don't understand just what the Blitzkrieg, V1 and V2 attacks were like because thankfully they fought a military war. Our NHS was started in '47 but we kept building great aircraft for years after. Some were bought by the USA. We are more 'active partners' to many rather than sole suppliers.

[@skysurferuk]

Just wait 'till that first pop-up comes on your VDU..."Are you sure you want to eject?" Thanks for the PR vid. More UK pilot opinions, please...

[@furtivedig]

It will integrate so well with the new carriers, in fact, it will literally melt (with) them.

[@stevencramsie9172]

They put heat-resistant coatings on the decks to prevent what you're implying from happening.

[@1chish]

You should see some of my typos ... I just think its a bit early to have views on an aircraft that is on a long testing and proving programme. None of us really know how its actually doing. And if there are faults they will be fixed as there are too many good companies involved. I just have this feeling the F35, updated Typhoon, QE carriers, T45 Destroyers, F26 Frigates and Astute subs will give us one helluva punch. And then there are the mudpluggers and even they have some awesome kit now

[@dantaylor7344]

*That reminds me, I must get some Lemonade*

[@cadnewham]

Are these all being built in Lockheed Fort Worth?

[@TimothyJoshuaG10]

Due to other countries having 5th Generation Fighters the US aren't allowing F-22 exports at this time

[@Colliedogs]

At first viewing, I thought that it took off with the canopy open!!

[@TorontoChannel]

Can't wait to see these birds on the new aircraft carriers.

[@Clyemne]

Will DDH IZUMO carry such a carrier-based plane in the future? I think that the national defense power of Japan may rise drastically if it can come true.

[@JMMDD]

No Launch Catapault?

[@jaxpok8167]

Ramp on the uk carrier allows it to get in the air with more ordinance.

[@a910]

No catapult?

[@prof1066]

Modern jets are just mobile missile launching platforms, so it does not need to be the fastest or most agile, just the best armed and defended.

[@ThroatSore]

5 gen? are people still saying that? Can it dogfight by the way?

[@barryallen6744]

Go on our brave boys ✈️⚓

[@wsgodden]

Excuse my typos, Waste and I meant land based Typhoons

[@wellfudgethis]

F 35 kicks ass!! God save the Queen!! God bless America!!

[@MegaFart12345]

Alex mahone flying F35s now wow

[@raynuelle3679]

Cameron wanted to scrap these two carriers... but he found out that it would cost MORE to cancel the contract than complete them! Thanks America for the planes!

[@joehayward2631]

I'm so glad to see the BRITISH finally rebuilding there Navy

[@TheFokker03]

can't wait for the British a/c to arrive.must admit,the front hinging canopy seems odd