The United States intends to start deploying F-35 fighters in Europe at the end of 2021. It is specified that the fifth generation fighters will be equipped with the Valkyrie squadron, based on the Lakenheath Air Base in the UK. In total, it will include 27 F-35A Lightning II aircraft. This will be the first US Air Force F-35A squadron permanently stationed outside of the United States. In the Pentagon, the transfer of modern aircraft calls for the support of NATO allies, who will provide security on the continent.
In winter, the fifth generation fighters in F-35A Lightning II configuration will be delivered to the British air base at Lakenheath, located 113 km from London. The UK was originally scheduled to deploy fifth generation fighters in 2021 & nbsp; on two bases: Markham and Leukenheath. It is not indicated if the original plans have been abandoned.
The number of fifth generation hunters in Europe will increase. In September, Air Force General Tod Walters, Commander of the United States European Command and NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, announced the project to member countries of the United States. The alliance to deploy a total of 450 National Air Force F-35 fighters to their 12 bases.
And it won't just be the US Air Force aircraft, the F-35 has already been purchased by various European states for their own armies. This decision was made by Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Belgium and Poland. It is assumed that the hunter can also be sold to Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Finland and Canada. A total of 14 countries were customers of the F-35 Lightning II.
The closest to the Russian border will be the F-35 Poland, which has signed a contract with the United States for the purchase of 32 F-35A Lightning II fighters in January 2020. Production of the first aircraft for Poland is scheduled for 2022; Warsaw will receive the first aircraft no earlier than 2024. Earlier, Lockheed Martin's vice president said a preliminary squadron of 16 F-35A aircraft from the Polish Air Force is expected be deployed in the city of Kelzen, at the 21st Svidvin Tactical Air Base near the Baltic Sea coast. Another squadron of fighters will be deployed near the town of Laska in central Poland.
F-35 fighter-bomber & mdash; Fifth-generation multifunctional combat vehicle, equipped with stealth technology; and capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The leading designer and manufacturer of the aircraft & mdash; American company Lockheed Martin, working on the project with Pratt & amp; Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce, Allison and British Aerospace. Besides the United States, the single strike fighter program funded by Italy, Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada and Turkey.
The F-35 has three modifications: a ground fighter, which was developed for the needs of the US Air Force; short take-off vertical landing fighter for the United States Marine Corps and British Naval Forces; embarked fighter for the US Navy.
The F-35 has been in service since 2012, but is still produced in small series. Large-scale production of the aircraft is constantly postponed, including due to the pandemic. Currently around 700 aircraft have been produced, Lockheed Martin plans to build 3,000 aircraft, which should make the F-35 the most massive fifth-generation fighter.
Lieutenant General Aytech Bizhev, the former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for the Unified Air Defense System of the CEI, said that the appearance in Europe of a large number of F-35s will not change the overall picture of the military-political situation.
“The F-35s will be deployed at already well-known airfields, which will make them easier to control. In addition, & nbsp; Russia now has systems capable of ensuring the detection and destruction of fifth generation aircraft. These are the S-300 and S-400, and the further development of these anti-aircraft missile systems. Russian detection systems & nbsp; spot these planes taking off and accompany them throughout the flight, if necessary, ready to destroy. Computer modeling has shown that these modern Russians systems destroy the F-35 with a coefficient of 0.9, that is, 9 out of 10 will be shot down. And over the next 5-10 years, the situation will not change significantly, & # 39; & # 39; & mdash; explains the expert.
Source: https://www.thedrive.com
