The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter can’t be seen in the skies of the UK—but it isn’t because of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft’s stealth technology but rather because the U.S. Air Force’s plan to begin permanently basing a number of jets at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath is largely over budget and behind schedule. Construction of the new hangers and facilities necessary for supporting the Air Force’s conventional takeoff-and-landing variant won’t be ready when the first planes arrive in November of next year. 

According to a report last week from Defense News, the construction projects associated with the F-35 program at RAF Lakenheath are running about 25 percent over the initial $480 million budget estimate from 2014. Cost overruns are just one part of the problem—the hangers planned to house the jets as well as the headquarters buildings used for the planning of operations and maintenance of the stealth fighters will not be ready nor will a training simulator building.

Despite the delays of the facilities, the Air Force has announced that it will still move forward with housing the F-35A Joint Strike Fighters at RAF Lakenheath. In 2015 the Air Force had announced that the base would be the first international location to receive the advanced fighter, and the first F-35s temporarily deployed to the base two years later.

History of RAF Lakenhealth 

The base is currently home to three American F-15 squadrons and sharing (of facilities) may be the name of the game until the F-35’s buildings are completed. One option that has been floated would be to lease additional facilities from the UK for the jets. Under the current plan, pilots and maintainers will arrive next June with the aircraft to follow by November. Eventually, the base will house two F-35 squadrons, which will each have a total of twenty-four jets Defense News reported.  

RAF Lakenheath, which is located near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, is on the site of a Royal Flying Corps airfield that dates back to World War I. It was initially used as a decoy airfield for RAF Mildenhall during World War II but was later used as a satellite base for Short Stirling bombers of No. 149 Squadron. After World War II, Lakenheath became one of the three main operating bases for the Strategic Air Command (SAC). 

It is home to the 48th Fighter Wing (Statue of Liberty Wing), the only U.S. Air Force wing with both a number and name. RAF Lakenheath and the sister base RAF Mildenhall are the two main U.S. Air Force bases in the UK.

Adding to the F-35’s Bottom Line 

The fact that the facilities for the Air Force’s F-35 jets are over budget likely shouldn’t come as a surprise given that the program has steadily been running up quite a tab. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is currently the world’s most expensive weapons program and could cost $1.5 trillion.  

However, the life of the program could run well into the 2070s, a consideration that needs to be considered. Some experts have also noted that the cost of the program could actually decrease as the result of foreign sales, which will cause production to ramp up. The larger the number of aircraft produced, the likelier it is that prices will drop.

Yet, it still isn’t a good sign that another component of the F-35 program is both behind schedule and over budget.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. 

Image: Reuters