Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Defence
  • /
  • HMS Queen Elizabeth's flight deck team experience live F-35s for first time

Defence

HMS Queen Elizabeth's flight deck team experience live F-35s for first time

Sailors from Britain’s new carrier got their first taste of the jet they will be working with – just weeks before the hi-tech stealth fighter makes its debut on their flight deck.

Above: HMS Queen Elizabeth's flight deck team experience the F-35B Lightning II during a visit to Pax River Air Base, Maryland.
Courtesy Lockheed Martin

Members of Flying Control and flight deck handlers from HMS Queen Elizabeth crossed the Atlantic to see live F-35B Lightning II jets in action – giving them a flavour of the smells, noise and heat generated by the Navy’s first fifth generation fighter.

Advertisement
Leonardo RT

Their Portsmouth-based carrier is due to conduct flying trials with the state-of-the-art aircraft in the late summer/early autumn off the eastern seaboard of the USA.

Above: Chief Petty Officer Paul Ranson, HMS Queen Elizabeth's Chief of the Flight Deck, conducts his first tow of an F-35B Lightning II.
Courtesy Lockheed Martin

Preparations for that moment – nearly a decade after a Royal Navy warship last hosted a fast jet – have been taking place for months, even years, on both sides of the ocean.

The carrier’s flight deck team have trained with replicas at RNAS Culdrose to get a feel for their size and weight as they move them around a mock-up of the new carrier’s sprawling deck. Useful though the models have been, they stop short of the experience with the real thing.


   
Above: The F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force team work alongside visitors from HMS Queen Elizabeth's flight deck team.
Courtesy Lockheed Martin

So around 20 sailors watched F-35B test aircraft BF-02 and BF-04 taxi, perform two vertical landings apiece, and conduct a couple short take-offs at Pax River air base, 50 miles outside Washington DC.

The ground reverberated as each aircraft approached the tarmac for its vertical landings, hovering for several seconds before descending. Having watched the Pax experts handle the jets, the QE team took over, taxiing a working F-35B for the first time.

The carrier’s Wings – Commander Air Cdr James Blackmore – said the few days at Pax proved invaluable for many of his team.

Advertisement
Leonardo RT

“It’s the first time they’ve ever seen the jet or been up and close to it as it’s performing its flight manoeuvres, so they got to feel the environment of what it’s like, the sort of noise, the heat, the sound and the pressure of the aircraft, so that when it comes to deck for the first time, it’s not a surprise,” he added.

He flew the last Harrier to take off from HMS Ark Royal at the end of 2010 before both the jump jet and carrier passed into history.

“If you like, I almost closed down what we used to do,” Cdr Blackmore added. “The fact that eight years later, I’m now here opening that back up with the team is really good.”

The first four British F-35s are due to arrive at their new home, RAF Marham, next week – weather permitting on both sides of the Atlantic – to prepare for front-line operations with 617 Squadron, either from land or from the decks of the UK's two new carriers.

 

 

Industry delivers UK defence dividend

Defence

Industry delivers UK defence dividend

2 July 2025

Research by Oxford Economics has revealed that the UK Government’s ambition to deliver a 'defence dividend' is already taking effect, with the nation’s biggest defence company, BAE Systems, contributing £13.7 billion to national GDP in 2024, accounting for one in every £200 of the country’s economic output.

DE&S sells three Royal Marines hovercraft to Pakistan Navy

Defence

DE&S sells three Royal Marines hovercraft to Pakistan Navy

2 July 2025

Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) has completed the sale of three Landing Craft Air Cushion (Light) (LCAC(L)) hovercraft and all associated spares to the Pakistan Navy.

Siemens and NVIDIA team to drive AI in advanced manufacturing

Aerospace Defence Security

Siemens and NVIDIA team to drive AI in advanced manufacturing

2 July 2025

Siemens and NVIDIA are expanding their partnership to accelerate the next era of industrial AI and digitalisation, towards enabling the factory of the future.

DSEI UK 2025 Tech Zone reflects MoD’s call for rapid defence innovation

Defence Security Events

DSEI UK 2025 Tech Zone reflects MoD’s call for rapid defence innovation

2 July 2025

With the Ministry of Defence doubling down on technology to futureproof the UK’s armed forces, this year’s DSEI UK (9th–12th September, Excel London) will unveil its updated Tech Zone with more than 100 tech companies, a hub for the cutting-edge innovation which is set to reshape British defence and security.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT
Marshall completes sale of Slingsby Advanced Composites to Mangohojden AB

Aerospace Defence

Marshall completes sale of Slingsby Advanced Composites to Mangohojden AB

2 July 2025

Marshall has announced the completion of the sale of its subsidiary, Slingsby Advanced Composites Ltd., to Mangohojden AB, formerly known as Goldcup 101485 AB, a privately held Swedish company seeking to develop a group of specialist aerospace and defence businesses.

Lucideon and MTC enter strategic partnership

Aerospace Defence

Lucideon and MTC enter strategic partnership

1 July 2025

Development and commercialisation organisation (DCO) specialising in advanced materials, Lucideon, has entered into a strategic partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) to drive next-gen performance in advanced ceramics.

Advertisement
Teledyne