The UK’s military has deployed a team of engineers to work on a Lockheed Martin F-35B which has been stranded in India’s southwestern Kerala state since making an emergency landing in mid-June.
Confirming the support personnel’s arrival in a 7 July post on social media site X, the account of British High Commission in India’s defence adviser Commodore Chris Saunders states: “Repairs are under way on the aircraft, which has now been moved to the maintenance hangar.
“We are grateful for the continued support and collaboration of the Indian authorities.”
The engineering team was deployed to Thiruvananthapuram International airport aboard a Royal Air Force Airbus Defence & Space A400M tactical transport. It has not been disclosed what equipment or spares were also carried by the Atlas airlifter.
The pilot of the UK F-35B diverted to the Indian airport on 14 June, while operating from the Royal Navy (RN’s) aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
Images identify the short take-off and vertical landing aircraft as being numbered 034. This corresponds to production aircraft BK-34, which has been in operational use since January 2024 with the service registration ZM168, data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows.
Currently involved in an eight-month, round-the-world Carrier Strike Group 25 deployment, the RN’s 65,000t flagship recently completed a port visit in Singapore. Later this month, the vessel and its embarked F-35Bs will take part in the Australian-hosted Talisman Sabre multinational exercise.
