UK to receive final F-35 test aircraft shortly

[Zarvan]

Aircraft BK-4 pictured on 30 January by the Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, ahead of its expected delivery to the UK Ministry of Defence in the coming days. Source: Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group/Twitter
The United Kingdom is shortly to receive its final testbed Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), after a senior UK Royal Air Force (RAF) officer Tweeted an image of the completed aircraft at the Fort Worth production facility in Texas.

The United Kingdom currently has two operational test and evaluation (BK-1 and BK-2) and one training aircraft (BK-3) flying out of Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida. The image of the third operational test and evaluation (OT&E) aircraft (BK-4) was taken and posted online by Air Vice-Marshal Gary Waterfall, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, on 30 January, ahead of its expected delivery to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the coming days.

Further to these first four trials and training aircraft, the United Kingdom has contracted 10 of the first 14 operational jets that have been authorised by parliament under the Main Gate 4 approval process.

In November 2015, the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) revealed that the RAF and Royal Navy (RN) are to get all 138 aircraft that they requested over the life of the programme, with contracts to follow in-line with the US government's Lot procurement process. The first 24 aircraft (plus 18 for training) will be fast-tracked to be available for operations on the new HMS Queen Elizabethand HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carriers by 2023.

In operational service, the F-35B will be fielded as a common RAF/RN pool along the lines of the now deactivated Joint Force Harrier. In February 2015 the RAF's 17 Reserve Squadron was designated the United Kingdom's OT&E squadron at Edwards AFB in California.

The first operational unit - 617 'Dambusters' Squadron - will stand up with the first 14 operational aircraft and BK-3 at Beaufort Pilot Training Center at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, South Carolina, later in 2016.

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