£88m British F-35 Forced Into Emergency Landing in Japan
A British F-35B stealth fighter jet from the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales made a dramatic emergency landing at Kagoshima International Airport on Sunday. The £88 million warplane suffered a technical fault during a sortie in the Indo-Pacific, forcing it to divert and shut the runway for 20 minutes.
Second F-35B Technical Trouble in Weeks
The carrier jet, one of about 24 on the £3.5 billion HMS Prince of Wales, diverted around 11:30am local time and touched down at 2pm. Japan’s Defence Ministry confirmed the landing was due to a malfunction onboard the advanced fighter.
This marks the second major issue with a British F-35B in just weeks. In June, another jet was forced to divert to Thiruvananthapuram Airport in Kerala, India, thanks to bad weather – only to suffer a hydraulic fault that kept it grounded for over a month. The incident sparked viral mockery by Kerala’s tourist board.
Britain’s £71 Billion F-35 Programme Hits Rough Patch
The British F-35 programme, expected to cost £71 billion over its lifetime, has been dogged by delays, costly maintenance, and questions over availability. The UK currently operates 37 jets but aims to field 138 in total.
The HMS Prince of Wales strike group is on its maiden Indo-Pacific deployment, known as Operation Highmast, conducting joint training exercises with Japanese and US military forces. The carrier is scheduled to head back to the UK in December.
