THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An expert technical team from the United Kingdom is expected to arrive within three days to clear the technical snag that has kept the British Royal Navy’s F-35B fighter jet grounded at Thiruvananthapuram Airport since June 14.
Once the team arrives, the $110m stealth fighter, the most advanced combat aircraft in the world, would be moved to the hangar where the maintenance work will be done, sources said.
Aviation expert Wing Commander A Mahesh (retd) said the expert team would be carrying minimum support equipment and if they succeed in their endeavour, the aircraft will fly on its own to the parent carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
“If the repair team arrives, they will be carrying minimum support equipment. They can’t carry the complete repair facilities of a type aircraft which is available only at the parent base or a major repair depot,” he said.
If the mission fails, then the aircraft will be flown back in a military transport aircraft. “In that case, they will fly inside the belly of another big aircraft to the parent country, not to the carrier ship,” Mahesh said.
In that case, the state-of-the-art fifth-generation fighter would be dismantled before being flown back in Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The F-35B, which was part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group, was engaged in operations about 100 nautical miles off Kerala’s coast when it was forced to divert to Thiruvananthapuram due to bad weather and low fuel.
The Indian Air Force facilitated the emergency landing and provided immediate logistical support.
However, during pre-departure checks ahead of the jet’s planned return to its carrier, a hydraulic failure was detected. The fighter jet has been parked at Bay 4 of the airport and remains under the security of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).