Training and Workforce
New UK F-35As Primarily for Training, Not Nuclear Role
Size of future fleet needed to support NATO nuclear mission currently under discussion
UK F-35 in flight
Upcoming Lockheed Martin F-35As—augmenting the VTOL-capable B variant currently fielded by the UK—will operate in a “day-to-day” role from RAF Marham’s Operational Conversion Unit. © UK MoD

The UK’s planned acquisition of a dozen Lockheed Martin nuclear-capable F-35As—announced last month as part of the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP)—has been primarily secured to support a training requirement, the RAF has revealed.

Speaking at the Global Air and Space Chiefs’ Conference in London on June 15, air vice-marshal Jim Beck, the RAF’s director of capability and programs said the UK “did not buy those aircraft for a dual-capable capability.” Rather, “we bought them for our conversion unit,” he explained.

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