How F-35B 'Beast Mode' trials on HMS Prince of Wales will make jets even more lethal
A Royal Navy commodore who is the Naval Attaché to the USA has spoken about how F-35Bs operating in 'Beast Mode' from HMS Prince of Wales are helping to push the jets' capabilities.
The Royal Navy carrier has been training with US aircraft ahead of her deployment to the Indo-Pacific region in 2025, where she will lead a Carrier Strike Group.
Commodore Roger Readwin told Forces News: "It’s all about lethality, it’s about how do we take this capability and exploit it."
Part of the development trials has included 'Beast Mode', which he describes as "taking the aircraft off with maximum weight on weapons, fuel, in order to really exploit the capability once it’s airborne".
This includes being loaded up with 22,000lb of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.
At the core of all the training has been interoperability, so the two navies are able to work together to extend their range and capabilities.
Commodore Readwin said: "The team onboard makes it look really easy but of course, it is really hard work to integrate this capability and exploit it and operate it to the edge of its envelope.
"The work with the US pilots, Royal Navy pilots, is all about this interoperability leading to interchangeability between our navies.
"What we’re trying to do is ensure when ships, in this case, the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, are deployed, say in the Indo-Pacific in a few years time.
"You can integrate both US marine corps F-35B alongside the UK variants as well."
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