F-35B Jets Ensure Air Superiority on HMS Prince of Wales

In a significant reaffirmation of the United Kingdom’s global defense strategy, Operation HIGHMAST was initiated on April 23, 2025. This extensive multinational operation is led by the British Royal Navy’s flagship, HMS Prince of Wales. A key element of this Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is the deployment of the UK’s most advanced stealth fighters, the F-35B Lightning IIs, from the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron and the Royal Navy’s 809 Naval Air Squadron.

This development represents a crucial advancement in British expeditionary capabilities, where air superiority is essential for the effectiveness and survival of a contemporary naval force.

The U.S. F-35B, a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter, is tailored for carrier operations. Its ability to launch from ski-jump ramps and land vertically enables it to operate from the flight decks of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth-class carriers—HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales—without requiring catapults or arresting gear.

The HMS Prince of Wales is designed to support up to 36 F-35B Lightning II jets during high-tempo missions, although typical deployments range from 12 to 24 aircraft based on mission needs and availability. In combat scenarios, the F-35B offers unmatched multirole flexibility to the Carrier Strike Group, combining stealth technology with supersonic capabilities, advanced sensors, and highly integrated data fusion.

For strike missions, the F-35B can carry internal munitions for stealth operations, such as two 500 lb Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and two AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles in its internal bays, ensuring a minimal radar profile. When stealth is less of a concern, it can carry a wider array of munitions on external hardpoints, allowing it to function effectively as a bomb truck or close air support platform.

The F-35B is equipped with capabilities that enable it to perform various combat roles. It can engage enemy aircraft in beyond-visual-range scenarios, strike fortified ground targets with high precision, neutralize enemy air defenses, and gather essential intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data. With armaments such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, precision-guided munitions like the Paveway IV and JDAM, and future upgrades including stand-off weapons like the SPEAR 3, the F-35B offers comprehensive combat solutions.

Additionally, an optional GAU-22/A 25mm cannon pod can be attached for strafing and close support missions. The fighter’s integration of advanced sensors, including the AN/APG-81 AESA radar, Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS), and Distributed Aperture System (DAS), provides unparalleled situational awareness. Its sophisticated electronic warfare suite allows it to detect, jam, and evade threats, while its sensor fusion capability turns the aircraft into a mobile command-and-control center.

This positions the F-35B as not just a weapon, but a force multiplier on the battlefield—capable of gathering and sharing intelligence with allied forces across maritime, terrestrial, and aerial domains. The reintroduction of carrier-based fixed-wing aviation into the British Royal Navy through the F-35B initiative is the culmination of over twenty years of strategic planning and investment.

The UK became a Tier 1 partner in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2001, contributing more than £2 billion to its development. The choice to acquire the STOVL variant was in line with the design of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers and reinstated a capability that was lost following the retirement of the Sea Harrier and Harrier GR9.

Initial deliveries of the aircraft commenced in 2012, and by 2018, 617 Squadron—the renowned “Dambusters”—achieved initial operational capability. In 2023, the Royal Navy reactivated 809 Naval Air Squadron, further enhancing the fleet’s preparedness for full carrier-based operations.

Operation HIGHMAST represents the most ambitious test of the UK’s revitalized carrier strike capability to date. As the British Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales navigates through critical strategic areas, its F-35B fleet will engage in joint exercises, deterrence missions, and combat drills in collaboration with allied air and naval forces.

This deployment underscores the UK’s dedication to NATO and its partners in the Indo-Pacific, showcasing the ability to project air power from the sea both independently and in cooperation across global arenas.

In a time when peer threats are becoming more sophisticated and the tempo of conflict is quickening, the integration of the F-35B into a versatile maritime platform like the HMS Prince of Wales provides Britain with the necessary flexibility, reach, and precision to deter threats and respond effectively to crises.

As the F-35Bs take to the skies from the deck of a British carrier once again, they signify not just a resurgence of power but the beginning of a new chapter in British naval aviation.