British Royal Air Force (RAF) F-35B Lightning joint strike fighter aircraft have taken off to participate in Exercise Joint Warrior.
The biannual exercise will take place off the west coast of Scotland.
RAF’s F-35Bs from 617 Squadron will be joined by the US Marine Corps (USMC) VMFA 211 Squadron F-35B aircraft.
The jets will join the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for the exercise.
Previously, the jets conducted training at RAF Marham and also participated in Exercise Point Blank.
In this exercise, the jets will board the aircraft carrier as a part of the Carrier Strike Group’s training programme next stage before HMS Queen Elizabeth’s maiden operational deployment next year.
Nato, partner nations and all three services use this exercise to carry out large scale inter-operability training.
Royal Navy 617 Squadron officer commanding commander Mark Sparrow said: “We are looking forward to joining HMS Queen Elizabeth for the next stage of our training and work up ready for our deployment next year.
“This follows the excellent work that both 617 and our colleagues from VMFA-211 Squadron have been doing over the last few weeks along with the invaluable support from 207 Squadron and wider station at RAF Marham to prepare us for this deployment.”
Last week, the airforces of the UK, the US and the Netherlands participated in the Exercise Point Blank 20-04 over the North Sea.
The multilateral exercise will help personnel hone the skills to deter potential foes and enhance interoperability.
