U.K. F-35 Lightning Jets Train With USAF Stealth Bomber | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Sun, Sep 08, 2019

U.K. F-35 Lightning Jets Train With USAF Stealth Bomber

Part Of Their Deployment To RAF Fairford In Gloucestershire, U.K.

For the first time, U.K. F-35 Lightning jets have been conducting integration flying training with the B-2 Spirit stealth bombers of the United States Air Force as part of their deployment to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, U.K.

The USAF deployment of the B-2’s from the Bomber Task Force Europe is long-planned. While deployed to the U.K. the aircraft will conduct a series of training activities in Europe. During this deployment, U.K. F-35B Lightning fighters are conducting sorties with the USAF B-2 bombers. Both are 5th generation aircraft and this is the first time that USAF B-2’s has trained with non-US F-35’s.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster said: “NATO is the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic defence, and those secure foundations continue to be reinforced by the training exercises being completed between the Royal Air Force and our special friends in the US Air Force.”

“We’re delighted that the USAF and 501st Wing Bomber Task Force are here in the U.K. and that our F-35 Lightning pilots have the chance to fly alongside and train with the B-2 bomber crews. This is the first time that any other country has done this,” said Group Captain Richard Yates, Chief of Staff at the U.K. Air Battle Staff.

“This flying integration builds on the work of Exercise Lightning Dawn in Cyprus and the visit of RAF F-35 Lightning to Italy in June, where in both cases it had the opportunity to prove itself among other NATO allies who also operate the aircraft.”

“Our Royal Air Force friends are integral to the 509th Bomb Wing mission,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rob Schoeneberg, Bomber Task Force Commander.” The beauty of our partnerships is that we get to understand how they see the world. Working alongside international fifth-generation aircraft provides unique training opportunities for us, bolsters our integration capabilities, and showcases the commitment we have to our NATO alliance.”

RAF Fairford routinely hosts deployments and exercises by U.S. strategic aircraft. These regular deployments reinforce the U.S. Air Force Europe and the Royal Air Force’s unique and complementary partnership and our collective contribution to NATO.

(Image provided with RAF news release)

FMI: www.raf.mod.uk

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.03.25)

Aero Linx: Colorado Pilots Association (CPA) Colorado Pilots Association was incorporated as a Colorado Nonprofit Corporation in 1972. It is a statewide organization with over 700 >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.03.25): High Speed Taxiway

High Speed Taxiway A long radius taxiway designed and provided with lighting or marking to define the path of aircraft, traveling at high speed (up to 60 knots), from the runway ce>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC