The first of Britain’s next-generation fighter jets have arrived home two months ahead of schedule in a major milestone for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

The first of Britain’s new cutting-edge aircraft arrived into RAF Marham their new home in Norfolk. They touched down late in the evening after a trans-Atlantic flight from the United States, where Britain has more of the jets and 150 personnel in training.

The F-35s took off from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and were flown by British pilots of the newly-reformed 617 Squadron, which was immortalised by the famous Dam busters raid of World War II.

Lightning fifth-generation combat aircraft will operate alongside the Typhoon. Lightning is a multi-role machine capable of conducting missions including air-to -surface, electronic warfare, intelligence gathering and air-to-air simultaneously.

• Organization: RAF
• Object Name: 38GpPO-Official-20180606-083-044
• Category: MOD
• Supplemental Categories: F-35, Offensive, Aircraft, Equipment
• Keywords: Royal Air Force, RAF, Equipment, Aircraft, Combat, F-35B, Joint Strike Fighter, JSF, Lightning, Blue Sky, Cloud
• Country: UK