Spotted: F-35B stuck on tarmac in India for five weeks now back on HMS Prince of Wales

An F-35B that had to divert to India from HMS Prince of Wales has finally made it back to the aircraft carrier, having been stranded for the past five weeks.

The Lightning had been stuck at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southwestern state since landing there following an emergency diversion.

But the 617 Squadron F-35 in question – 034 – is now back on the flight deck.

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The Lightning is believed to have made the journey from Kerala to Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory in one bound.

The distance is roughly 3,985 miles and, according to tracking site Flight Radar 24, an RAF Voyager tanker provided the F-35B with air-to-air refuelling.

The Voyager KC.Mk2 is the RAF's only AAR tanker and is equipped with two underwing pods for refuelling fast jets.

It was tracked from Mali to Malaysia and ultimately Darwin.

HMS Prince of Wales is leading Carrier Strike Group 25 on Operation Highmast – an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific.

CSG25 is currently more than halfway through a three-week multinational exercise called Talisman Sabre.

The multi-domain exercise is centred in and around the Northern Territory and Queensland, with some elements of the exercise being staged further south in New South Wales.

Nineteen nations are involved in the largest exercise ever staged in Australia.

HMS Prince of Wales is inclusive of the international flavour of the exercise, as a United States Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II is currently embarked on the British warship.

For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here.