Lack of stand-off weapons key inhibitor for UK F-35 capabilities, NAO reports

The capabilities of the UK's F-35B force have been stymied by delays to integrating long-range stand-off weapons, the NAO has said in its latest report. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom's National Audit Office (NAO) has identified a lack of long-range stand-off weaponry as a key inhibitor to the country's fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

In its report titled The UK's F-35 capability , the NAO said that this particular shortfall was the most significant of the important capabilities for the fleet that have been delayed into the 2030s.

“There are some important capabilities that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has delayed into the next decade. Most significantly, the F-35 does not have a stand-off weapon to attack ground targets from a safe range, which will impact its effectiveness in contested environments,” the NAO said in its report published on 11 July. “It does not expect to have this capability in full until the early 2030s,” the NAO added.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) currently fields 37 of 48 contracted F-35Bs (one was lost in an accident in 2021), with deliveries to conclude in 2026. In the air-to-air role they are armed with the MBDA AIM-132 Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) and RTX AIM-120 AMRAAM, while their air-to-surface loadout comprises the RTX Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. None of these weapon types afford the aircraft with a true beyond-visual-range capability.

To address this, the MoD plans to equip the F-35B with the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) in the air-to-air role and the MBDA Selected Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) 3 in the air-to-surface role. However, the integration of both these weapon types has been progressively delayed in the context of the wider international F-35 programme.