RAF Lakenheath Base Receives Their First F-35A Lightning II Fighters

Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England welcomes their first batch of F-35A Lightning II fighter jets. Last Wednesday Lakenheath airbase received their first F-35A aircraft.

According to the United States Air Force (USAF), Lakenheath was the first European base to receive F-35A fighters. Aircraft received last Wednesday were the first of 24 F-35 fighters to be delivered.

The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is described as a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighter aircraft that can perform both air superiority and strike missions. This new generation fighter aircraft also has electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

USAF said in a statement that,

“The F-35A is an agile, versatile, high-performance, 9g-capable [where gravity is nine times higher than normal] multirole fighter that combines stealth, sensor fusion and unprecedented situational awareness.”

The Lakenheath Airbase first was selected in 2015 to host F-35A fighter jet squadrons in Europe due to close ties with RAF, combined training opportunities, and the existing infrastructure. The United Kingdom is a very important component in combat training for Air Forces in Europe due to its outstanding airspace and F-35 partnership program.

The Air Force base in Lakenheath is owned by the Ministry Of Defence and leased to the United States Air Force. Watch how F-35A Lightning II fighter jets arrive at the Lakenheath base from the video down below!