Britain's first F-35 stealth fighter planes arrive on UK soil at RAF Marham in Norfolk | ITV News

To avoid the moment I will be talking about at this time in the afternoon, the landing of the

first

four F-35s secured here at RAF Marham has been a very long journey for them today, flying thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, they departed from South Carolina and the base they have been training at for a few hours but they finally

arrive

d here to begin a new chapter in the history of six one seven squadrons in a few moments I will be talking to some of the key people involved in this project, but

first

James Hertz takes a look back Minister, okay, okay, it's an important investment, but I'm afraid that in defense nothing is cheap, but it is a cutting-edge platform to which the F-35 obviously takes us to a new game of ball in terms of information gathering in terms of the nature of the platform that we are purchasing, so I think when you talk to the ground staff here, when you talk to the pilots, I think it's fair to say that this is a step towards right direction is something we've been working on for a long time and it's just fantastic to be here to see them

arrive

and have traveled from the US.

I think it highlights the fact that I know we often talk about defense as if it were a case of doom and gloom, but that's not true with the investments we're making in capabilities and the capability is significant and the fact that we have these F-35 landings and I'm marking them. The fact that we will be conducting sea trials on the aircraft carrier off the east coast of the US in early autumn really is a statement that the UK has built up a significant defense capability and is willing to play a role. in the world. to fulfill its obligations to NATO, so yes, it is a statement, really, really, the investment is approaching 500 million, it is an investment that is necessary to keep the F-35 in place again and to maintain and care. for the next 35 to 40 years because this type of investment is a huge investment, but obviously it is also there for the long term, so we had to make sure that we had the facilities here that could support this and other expected platforms, like this and I have to To say that the enthusiasm at the base is quite contagious, they are fantastically good, they are the next generation of capabilities, they are not only capable of

stealth

access to airspace at the time and place of our choosing, but also a tremendous detection platform, tremendous capable information capabilities. to understand much better what is happening on the battlefield, which gives us that real superiority over our potential adversaries.

Well, RAF Marham will be the home base for the F-35 for decades to come, so it's great

news

for us and we've put in tremendous effort. amount of investment in this base, it has been a key base for the Royal Air Force for many years and we are now the base for both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy people who are operating the F-35, so It's a great place and a great location and we always have tremendous support in Norfolk. I don't see any pessimism in this at all. I see it as a fantastic new chapter in our military capability in history and it is a truly shared effort.

So, actually, what it says in many ways is that the UK defense is operating in a stronger and more confident way because, rather than what we've seen in the last two services trying to outdo each other, there is two services that come together powerfully to operate. fifth generation carrier strike capability combat air power capable of deploying around the world from land or sea if that is not a statement of confidence and determination to reach I don't know what it is Oh, I find it Oh, because I am, I was great, it has been It has taken a number of years to get to today, so we are very pleased and proud to be back in Mahram and bringing the four Jets home to the UK and a lot of work has been done in the background over the years. last years. years both within the squadron and our engineers and our support staff and also the defense to make sure that we can be here today so that we can be the four guys that show up on the

planes

, but there has been a lot of work.

This will allow us to be here today, so I would say it's one of the best fights in the world right now and for all the work we've been doing in South Carolina over the years developing the aircraft and improving our tactics in the way we operate the platform. I can certainly say that it has been a phenomenal cake to get things back on track.