No decision on hangar facility for Royal Air Force’s stranded F-35

Even as the F-35B fighter jet of the United Kingdom government remained grounded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for over a week, there is no clarity on when the fighter jet will depart or when its “technical glitches” will be fixed.

Interestingly, all the details of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, including the circumstances that led to the emergency landing, its prolonged stay in Thiruvananthapuram, and the nature of glitches it arguably developed during emergency landing, are protected and not disclosed by any of the agencies.

Interestingly, the Indian Air Force (IAF), which facilitated the emergency landing of the aircraft for flight safety reasons and has been providing all necessary support for the rectification and subsequent return of the aircraft, has been maintaining that the combat jet was of the Royal Navy.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provided the security cover for the jet soon after the emergency landing, was terming it a Royal Navy fighter jet.

However, it turns out that the fighter belongs to the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, not the Royal Navy. It had to seek an emergency landing due to adverse weather conditions over the Arabian Sea. Work is under way to repair and recover the aircraft to HMS Prince of Wales (the aircraft carrier of the U.K. deployed in the Indian Ocean), with the support of the Indian authorities.

Various agencies in India have been maintaining that the jet, operating from HMS Prince of Wales, was undertaking routine flying outside the Indian Air Defence Identification Zone, with Thiruvananthapuram earmarked as the emergency recovery airfield, on the night of June 14.

However, the weather turned rough in the Indian Ocean, making it difficult for the fighter jet to land on the aircraft carrier. It then had to request an emergency landing here as it was running on low fuel.

However, the U.K. agencies didn’t mention anything about the low fuel onboard the aircraft during the time of the emergency landing.

Although The Hindu tried to obtain the details of the munitions on the aircraft, both the agencies in India and the U.K. refused to disclose the details.

Meanwhile, an expert team from the U.K. is expected to reach here soon to attend to the aircraft, which has been parked on bay number 4 near the domestic terminal. Though a discussion was under way to make use of the hangar facility at the airport, a final decision on this would be taken only after the expert team from the U.K. inspects the aircraft, said sources.

Made by the U.S.-based Lockheed Martin and used by key NATO allies, F-35B is one of the most advanced fighter jets in service globally, which is known for its short take-off and vertical landing.