MoD Announces New £135m Contract For RAF Marham

The Ministry of Defence has announced a £135 million contract to support the new fast jets at RAF Marham.

The infrastructure investment has been described as a 'major milestone' in the F-35 programme, delivering a new hangar capable of housing 12 of the aircraft.

Among the advancements, vertical landing pads will be implemented at RAF Marham in order to accommodate the F-35B's ability to land vertically.

The Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, said:

"Flying from our new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, the F-35B aircraft will provide the UK with the ability to project our influence globally. This contract will ensure that RAF Marham has the facilities to match this world-class aircraft when it arrives next year."

This is the last of seven projects worth £250 million undertaken to prepare the station for the arrival of the aircraft in 2018.

In 2012, then-Defence Secretary Philip Hammond announced that it would purchase the F-35B, reversing a decision in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review to buy a smaller number of F-35Cs.

Last year, however, the Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, refused to confirm in a written answer to a question from Labour MP Kevan Jones that all the 138 jets would be F-35Bs, rather than F-35Cs or the cheaper 'A' variant.

The F-35B, unlike the F-35A, has a lift fan behind the cockpit which gives the aircraft Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capabilities, allowing it to fly from an aircraft carrier and hover like a Harrier. The F-35A, meanwhile, is designed to take off from conventional runways.

Some experts have argued, however, that once there are enough of the jets to fly from the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers - each will carry around 24 - Britain should buy the cheaper F-35A.

The F-35B Lightning aircraft will be used by the RAF and the Royal Navy and will fly from Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers or from other operating bases. 

Initial flight trials are set to begin in 2018, building towards delivering a Carrier Strike capability for the UK from 2020.

It will be operated initially by 617 Squadron, RAF, followed by 809 Naval Air Squadron.