The importance of F-35 to the UK economy and defence
Paul Livingston, Chief Executive, UK & NATO
| Lockheed Martin
For 20 nations, the F-35 serves as the pre-eminent combat aircraft of choice. Allies such as Australia, Finland, Italy, Japan, Poland, the United States and 14 others depend on British industry to play its role in delivering this most advanced fighter jet in the world. For the UK, the F-35 is not just its most advanced air platform; it’s a key contributor to the nation’s economic prosperity.
Lockheed Martin recently welcomed Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, and government officials from across Whitehall to the Royal United Services Institute to meet representatives of UK industry involved in the F-35 programme. Quite a few of them took the opportunity to get behind the controls of our F-35 flight simulator to find out for themselves what it feels like to pilot this unrivalled aircraft.
Our nation’s fleet of F-35s is flown by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF) from the UK’s Queen Elizabeth-class carriers and RAF Marham in Norfolk. The F-35 is vital to ensuring the UK’s security and that of its allies, as well as to supporting thousands of UK jobs in hundreds of UK businesses.
It might surprise you to know that there are almost as many UK suppliers to this programme as there are MPs in the House of Commons. Over 500 British companies from constituencies in every home nation of the United Kingdom play an important role in the global F-35 programme, sustaining thousands of high-skill, high-value jobs across the nation.
The fingerprints of British ingenuity are all over F-35, with components including the ejector seat, the short take-off and vertical landing system, the entire rear fuselage, and much, much more built by British companies including BAE Systems in Samlesbury, Rolls-Royce in Derby and Survitec in Ellesmere Port.
As a result, the F-35 programme has an enormous, positive impact in terms of jobs and economic value on constituencies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
By the end of 2023, the F-35 programme had already delivered £19.8bn worth of economic value in terms of gross value added (GVA) to the UK.
In fact, our latest economic assessment of the programme’s value to the UK has found that it is delivering more than 20,000 high-value jobs for British workers each year, supporting the growth of over 500 UK companies and will contribute a GVA of £45.2bn to the UK economy up to 2046, with additional production and sustainment projected to continue well beyond that date.
These benefits far outstrip any previous or future UK Combat Air Programme, and the economic return alone is many times more than the UK government’s original investment.
This economic assessment only projects up to 2046, but based on new nations joining the programme, we already know production of F-35 will continue long after that date. Furthermore, the US expects F-35 to remain in operation until 2082, which also means further economic benefit to the UK.
In short, every time a customer joins the F-35 programme or buys additional aircraft, Britain benefits. Not just today, but for many more decades to come.
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Beyond the economic and employment benefits, thanks to its role in the F-35 programme, the UK plays a critical role in helping to protect its allies in NATO and beyond. No other UK platform plays such a role.
In times of increased geopolitical uncertainty, this programme could not be more important to our allies all around the world, particularly for those on the eastern frontier of NATO.
F-35’s 5th Generation, multi-role nature means that it also offers unrivalled combat air capability today and well into the future. Its ability to rapidly deploy around the world, together with its unique capability of integrating seamlessly with NATO, the Joint Expeditionary Force and allies worldwide enables the UK to undertake global missions to protect our allies and overseas interests.
It is the glue that connects nations’ defence assets, a key source of interoperability between the UK and its allies. It is the only platform capable of collecting and disseminating data from satellites to the naval and ground forces of any ally, while at the same time protecting them from the air.
Over 1,060 F-35s have already been delivered to customers around the world, with several nations contracted for their full programmes of record and positions reserved on our production lines. With new customer nations joining the programme every year, the value of the programme to the UK continues to grow.
Earlier this year, the previous UK government re-affirmed its commitment to the UK’s full planned programme of 138 aircraft. 35 of the first tranche of 48 jets have already been delivered. At this time of increased geopolitical tension when the new government wishes to play a larger role in NATO, F-35 is the essential platform for the UK.
As the UK’s 4th Generation fleet of fighter jets approaches its end of life, and with any future system many years away, a full quota of F-35 for the RAF and Royal Navy not only represents unequalled defensive capability for the nation but unparalleled value to companies and employees all over the UK today and for decades to come.
A recommitment by the new government to the UK’s full programme of record will be an important signal to our allies, essential to achieving combat mass in a deteriorating global security environment, and fundamental to maintaining the UK’s Combat Air industry.
To learn more about how Lockheed Martin is supporting the UK’s defence and economy, contact Andrew Boyle, Head of Communications North Europe, at andrew.1.boyle@global.lmco.com
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