A F-35B fighter from the British Royal Air Force (RAF) remains in Japan after making an emergency landing at Kagoshima Airport on August 10 due to a technical failure.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the aircraft, belonging to the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, has been assessed by specialists and is awaiting replacement parts to return to service. The incident is unrelated to another that occurred weeks earlier, when a different F-35B had to land in India, where it stayed grounded for over a month.
The current mission of the Prince of Wales, called Operation Highmast, is one of the most significant ever carried out by British F-35Bs, with 18 aircraft participating in exercises in the Indo-Pacific. During the operation, the fighters worked alongside Australian, Japanese, and South Korean forces, including a historic milestone: for the first time, British jets took off from a Japanese ship, the helicopter carrier Kaga. Despite setbacks, emergency landings are common in naval operations, especially when technical or logistical risks arise.
However, the incidents reignite debates about the reliability of the F-35B, a program already marked by delays and high costs. In 2021, the UK lost a fighter of this model in the Mediterranean after an accident caused by human error. Now, with two jets temporarily inactive during the same mission, pressure on the effectiveness of the UK’s F-35 fleet increases, while the government waits for parts to resume operations.
Source: The War Zone | Photo: X @RoyalAirForce | This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team
Around 1100 local time this morning, a UK F-35 from @HMSPWLS made an emergency diversion to 🇯🇵Kagoshima Airport as a precaution following in-flight defect#CSG25 https://t.co/VG84q4KCbH
— Navy Lookout (@NavyLookout) August 10, 2025
