In Clipping Purchase of F-35Bs, Britain Risks Security

Video: Army Research Lab Scientists… Tells Warrior About Engineering New Explosives

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

(Washington D.C.) British newspapers are now reporting that the U.K. leadership intends to cut as many as 90 F-35Bs from its planned buy of 138, a massive development which, if true, would substantially reshape the country’s ability to project power throughout the region. 

Thus far, the U.K. has committed to buy 48 F-35s by 2025, according to the British The Times, which cites that large-scale cuts to the F-35 are likely to emerge from the U.K.’s upcoming defense review .. “Global Britain in a Competitive Age.” 

What would it mean for the U.K. and NATO, should the British F-35 fleet decrease from 138 to 45? One thing which comes to mind is that the U.K. is not only surrounded by water but also of course borders the Baltic Sea, a region quickly accessible to Russian military forces. Being engineered for amphibious vertical take-off-and-landing, the F-35Bs could enable the British military to hold parts of the Russian coastline at risk of amphibious attack supported by 5th Gen aircraft. 

There is also a large collective, NATO-specific element of this, to include multi-national surveillance, data-sharing and intelligence coordination among F-35-member nations. Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands, not to mention Italy, all operate F-35s, a group to be joined by Polish F-35s as well. 

“A key advantage to the F-35 is that 12 other partner nations are operating the F-35 and there is a common network offering multi-level security,”  Ret. Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told The National Interest in an interview.