What will become of the UK F-35 fighter stranded in India?

The UK government is “developing options” for the recovery of an F-35B stealth fighter stranded in India, after it encountered mechanical issues during operations as part of the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 25 deployment.

Parked on the tarmac of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southern state of Kerala since 14 June, the UK F-35B has purportedly been guarded around the clock by Indian officials, although it was not until July before the first UK military personnel managed to get on site to begin repairs.

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport hosts the headquarters of the Indian Air Force’s Southern Air Command.

Outlining the current state of events in a 9 July UK parliamentary written response, UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard stated an engineering team of “less than ten personnel” had deployed from the UK with a “spares package” in a bid to recover the fifth-generation fighter.

“We are developing options for recovering the aircraft with air-to-air refuelling support once the repairs are complete,” Pollard said.

Options appear limited for the UK fighter, with potentially the closest friendly base being RAFO Thumrait in Oman, some 2,600km to the west-northwest.

With a maximum flight range of around 1,600km, the F-35B would need refuelling to reach such a location.

In 2021, UK F-35B fighters conducted so-called ‘buddy-buddy refuelling’ with US Navy Super Hornet aircraft and can also be topped up by RAF Voyager air tankers.

Conceivably, the aircraft could remain in location until its host vessel, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, returns to the Indian Ocean after completing its Asia-Pacific deployment. However, this is not expected for several weeks, at the earliest.

Stranded in the elements for weeks, the fighter has since been towed to a hangar to enable UK personnel to undertake repairs. Should repairs prove impossible, the aircraft will need to be partially dismantled in order to fit into a C-17 transporter for return to the UK.

UK left red-faced by F-35 incident, again

The incident has been an international embarrassment for the UK, which also lost an F-35B during the deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea in 2021. The fighter crashed into the sea on take-off, with claims that spray coverings were not removed from the engine intakes.

The loss sparked a rush to secure the platform should it fall into the hands of Russian naval forces operating in the region. Similarly, the accidental loss of US F-35 aircraft has also required extensive recovery operations, with the stealth technology sought after by rivals.

India maintains close ties with Russia, which would welcome the sharing of any information gleaned from the UK fighter by its hosts during its enforced sojourn in Kerala.

Indeed, India operates the Russian S-400 air defence system, the exact type of platform that resulted in Turkey being expelled from the F-35 programme, amid fears that Russia could learn how to defeat the aircraft’s stealth capabilities.

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