UK relaunches F-35B/QE carrier simulation training

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is undertaking simulated training to operate the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL)-variant Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) from the decks of the future Queen Elizabeth (QE)-class aircraft carriers, the MoD revealed on 8 January.

Renewed training of Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN) personnel on the F-35B at the BAE Systems simulator at Warton, Lancashire, follows the UK government's decision in 2012 to revert back to the STOVL aircraft after a brief dalliance with the carrier variant (CV) F-35C.

Speaking during a previous tour of the simulator facility when it was configured for the F-35C, BAE Systems officials told IHS Jane's that the change from one variant aircraft to another did not pose too much of a problem with regard to the company's simulator-based training.

As Mike Southworth, business development manager at BAE Systems' Engineering Integrated Solutions explained, the simulator at Warton runs the ATLAS software from Lockheed Martin, which has all the F-35 variants already embedded within it.