More than half of UK F-35B fleet aboard HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier
November 7, 2025
A record-breaking 24 of Britain’s F-35 5th-generation fighter jets are on board the HMS Prince of Wales in the Mediterranean. The UK has so far ordered 48 F-35Bs, and as of mid-2025, the UK has received at least 38 of them (minus one lost from an aircraft carrier). Some are held back for training.
Most F-35Bs ever on a British carrier
According to a statement by the Royal Navy, the HMS Prince of Wales now has the largest number of British F-35B Lightning II fighter jets ever assembled on either of the two Queen Elizabeth class carriers.
Jets, jets and more jets… 🇬🇧⚡️
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) November 6, 2025
The largest number of UK F-35B Lightning jets ever assembled on either of the #RoyalNavy’s new aircraft carriers has been deployed to the Mediterranean for a major allied exercise with @HMSPWLS.#CSG25
Read more: https://t.co/ubeGf3t2Pb pic.twitter.com/xLaFPTMn7d
The Prince of Wales is now carrying 24 British F-35Bs and is leading the British Carrier Strike Group in the Mediterranean, having returned from a five-month tour of the Indo-Pacific (where a wayward F-35B got stranded in India for a time).
This is the most sovereign F-35s ever seen on a Royal Navy carrier and represents more than half of the total the United Kingdom possesses. These are from the 809 Naval Air Squadron, 617 Squadron, possibly 207 Squadron.
The carrier stopped in Souda Bay in Crete, where Captain Ben Power took over as Commanding Officer from Captain Will Blackett. The ship is accompanied by the Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond and Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless.
Operation HIGHMAST entering final stages
HSM Prince of Wales is taking part in the Italian-led Exercise Falcon Strike, which is attracting contingents from other NATO countries, including the US and Greece.
The exercise comes as the eight-month Operation Highmast deployment enters its final stages. The operation spans over 26,000 nautical miles and involves 40 nations, extending all the way to Japan. The deployment saw upwards of 4,500 British military personnel involved, including almost 600 RAF, 900 soldiers, and 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Marines.
The operation helps reestablish the UK as an aircraft carrier nation with Blue Water capabilities following a gap between the retirement of its Invincible class carriers in 2014 and the initial operational capabilities of its Queen Elizabeth class in 2021.
Royal Navy 🤝 Indian Navy
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) October 18, 2025
For the first time, 🇬🇧 @HMSPWLS operated alongside 🇮🇳 INS Vikrant during a milestone exercise that further strengthens UK–India naval ties.@IN_HQENC | @COMUKCSG | #CSG25 pic.twitter.com/ASIQZSJZGt
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the Carrier Strike Group, stated the deployment is “reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading European power delivering fifth-generation aircraft and carrier capabilities assigned as a primary contribution to NATO.”
The complicated RAF/Royal Navy F-35 sharing
As a cost-saving measure, the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm shares its F-35Bs with the RAF. But this has not been ideal as the F-35B is more complex, more expensive, shorter ranged, and has a lower payload capacity as it’s designed for V/STOL operations, partly due to the Rolls-Royce LiftFan system.
The UK is still in the Initial Procurement Phase, receiving its order of 48 F-35B fighter jets. This is expected to be completed by March 2026, with seven F-35Bs arriving in the UK during 2025.
The UK is expected to soon place another order that will bring the total to 72 jets. The RAF has long lobbied for the UK to purchase conventional F-35As for its use and, in 2025, the UK announced it would purchase 12 of them. The next order will be for 15 F-35Bs and 12 F-35As.
F-35 pilots from @HMSPWLS took on the best of the Indian Air Force as the two Commonwealth militaries concluded exercises in the Indian Ocean with some simulated dogfights and attacks on the UK Carrier Strike Group. #CSG25https://t.co/W9w2ng2Ie9 pic.twitter.com/q8XNFCyUS7
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) October 15, 2025
According to new Ministry of Defence documents, cost modelling in the 2040s was used for the F-35A, as there was no cost estimate for the F-35B. The UK has a program of record to eventually purchase 138 F-35s. The first 72 will include 63 F-35Bs and 12 F-12As (including a replacement aircraft), but it’s unclear what variant the remaining 76 aircraft will be.
