FighterControl

British F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, as well as Typhoon FGR4 multi-role fighters, are set to operate from highways in the near future as part of an evolving distributed operations strategy, something that is a fast-growing trend in light of potential Russian aggression in Europe.

While the U.K. Royal Air Force has already begun to expand the options from where it can operate its Typhoons, the announcement that its F-35Bs are also planned to be used from highways is a new development, but one that makes a considerable amount of sense considering the stealth jet’s short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities.

The latest plans were revealed today by Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, the RAF’s air and space commander, during the Global Air and Space Chiefs Conference in London and were first reported by Steve Trimble, Aviation Week’s defense editor and good friend of The War Zone.

Smyth confirmed that the plans call for RAF Typhoons to visit Finland “within a couple of months,” from where they will conduct demonstrations from highway strips. The F-35Bs will do the same, likely from locations in the United Kingdom, sometime in the next 12 month

Thunder wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 6:39 am

There’s hardly a road in the UK that’s suitable for a car, so good luck finding one to operate a F-35 from.

seven wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 6:55 am

Can see the headline now, '£60million stealth fighter destroyed after ingesting 300 orange traffic cones landing on the M4'...

Plans to take RAF F-35Bs onto the road are less advanced, but Smyth said that they would involve placing aluminum AM-2 mats along a strip of highway, up to 1,500 feet long. This will be sufficient for the stealth jets to carry out short takeoffs and vertical landings while protecting the road beneath them. The potential for the F-35B’s hot engine exhaust to cause damage to the surfaces it operates from, when in STOVL mode, is an issue that has come up previously in the program, with the aluminum matting offering an apparent workaround.

My whole approach to it has been: If you don’t try it, you don't know where the holes are, Smyth told the conference.

C24 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 9:41 am

What a daft plan

There must be several score of WW2 airfields that have concrete runways that do not have the potholes on current roads. Perhaps the RAF could consider a few of those before making our current roads worse and causing further delays.

TAFFEVANS wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 8:58 pm

One of the motorways in the UK was good enough for a Jag in the 70’s!

Ghastly Whisper wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 9:31 pm

TAFFEVANS wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 14, 2023 8:58 pm

One of the motorways in the UK was good enough for a Jag in the 70’s!

Yes but IIRC that particular stretch was brand new, and 50 years have now passed!