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News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Why F-35B's Kerala Monsoon Holiday is Embarrassing
Buying F-35s will make India heavily dependent on the US goodwill for spares, etc. And the jet does seem to have its share of inexplicable glitches Imagine if a state-of-the-art, wildly expensive, imported fighter jet of the Indian Air Force had to force-land in another country that is outside its 'comfort zone', could not take off again despite multiple repair efforts and therefore had to be carted back home in pieces…. There would have been derisive noises from around the world, led by the Western media and amplified by the local press, and memes about bullock carts would have flown thick and fast. And yet, a fighter aircraft fitting that description—the F-35B Lightning—of the UK's Royal Air Force landed in Thiruvananthapuram on June 14 and languished there for nearly a month, not responding to the ministrations of British engineers brought in from near and far. Now it has been towed into a hangar at that very airport for more intensive examination and may well be flown back to UK. Could the much-touted jet have a more ignominious Indian holiday? It was clever of the Kerala Tourism department to take advantage of Britain's embarrassment by putting out an ad showing the fighter jet enjoying its holiday in 'God's Own Country". All the critiques were in good humour; there were no derisive remarks, at least from Indians on social media, about the state of UK's armed forces' engineering and repair capabilities. The reaction to an IAF fighter jet being grounded anywhere would not have been as genteel. More so as mystery shrouds why the F-35B had to land on terra firma in Kerala in the first place, rather than returning to the aircraft carrier HMS Prince Of Wales, the Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy—its most prestigious vessel. The plane and ship were part of the UK's naval Strike Group carrying out joint exercises with the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea on June 9-10, 2025. The initial reason given was quite innocuous: it was running 'low on fuel". But that was obviously not the real reason as the Indian government's permission and a bowser of fuel could have sent the fighter jet on its way in a matter of hours. So the explanation then put out was 'adverse weather conditions"; being monsoon season it sounded perfectly plausible too. Except that the $115 million aircraft continued to sit on the tarmac of Thiruvananthapuram Airport far longer than any monsoon downpour would mandate even at its peak. Finally, the UK authorities trotted out yet another anodyne term for the aircraft's extended Kerala sojourn: a 'technical issue". But 25 days on, like ol' Humpty Dumpty, 'all the king's horses and all the king's men" could not put it back together again, metaphorically speaking. Multiple teams of military engineering personnel arrived to attempt to make the aircraft airworthy again and failed to do so. There should have been an uproar. Curiously, there wasn't. Only the Conservative MP for Huntingdon and former soldier, Ben Obese-Jecty asked the government in the House of Commons 'What steps are the Government is taking to recover the plane, how much longer will that take, and how will the Government ensure the security of protected technologies on the jet while it is in the hangar and out of view?" No truly candid answer would have been anything other than very embarrassing for the former colonial power. Because, just this May, the Royal Air Force announced on X, 'After a long journey from @LockheedMartin in Fort Worth Texas, two new F-35B Lightning jets have arrived @RAF_Marham. Supported by an @RAFBrizeNorton Voyager, they represent the UK's ongoing effort to maintain advanced air power and an important step in the F-35 program." If American spellings by a British handle was not bad enough, an F-35B was soon grounded in Kerala. Even more intriguingly, even as one of its F-35Bs stood languishing in the Kerala rain and heat, the UK government announced on June 25 the purchase of 12 new F-35A fighter jets that have the option to carry nuclear bombs. These longer range fighters would be based at RAF Marham as, unlike the short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs, they need conventional runways. Britain also stated it would buy 15 more F-35B and 12 F-35A fighters in the second phase. So, it was not surprising that in reply to MP Obese-Jecty's question, the Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard said, 'We continue to work with our Indian friends who provided first-class support when the F-35B was unable to return to the Prince of Wales when on a flight mission," asserting that 'the security of the jet is in good hands because RAF crew are with it at all times." He did not address why just a 'technical issue" continues to confound the RAF. Though the fifth generation Lockheed Martin fighter is the most advanced combat aircraft in UK's armed forces and crucial for its carrier strike capability, and yet there are no robust calls for clarity on the persistence of this 'technical issue" and its ramifications the security of the jet's technology even if India (not being a NATO partner) was unlikely to spy on it! The UK government's reticence and the international media subdued interest is very curious indeed. The British High Commission's terse statement on Sunday said that the UK team sent to 'assess and repair" the F-35B carried 'specialist equipment" for its movement and repair. All of the F-35's rivals in the international defence aviation sector would want to be flies on the wall of that hangar in Thiruvananthapuram Airport this week as the fighter jet is examined closely by, presumably, not just RAF engineers flown in from the UK but also Lockheed Martin. Charges for the F-35B's embarrassing sojourn on the Thiruvananthapuram Airport tarmac for 26 days have been estimated to be Rs 5,77,742 at the rate of Rs 26,261 per day. That is rather reasonable given that comparable charges for an IAF fighter aircraft chilling, say, at Heathrow Airport for the same amount of time would have meant forking out approximately the pound sterling equivalent of Rs 2,66,527 per day. But maybe India will not press for payment! top videos View all Meanwhile India will be watching—albeit from afar—as US President Donald Trump had grandiosely offered F-35s during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in February. That was, of course, before the Pahalgam massacre, India's Operation Sindoor retaliation and Trump's astonishing re-hypenation of India and Pakistan. Buying F-35s will make India heavily dependent on the US goodwill for spares, etc. And the jet does seem to have its share of inexplicable glitches… The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 10, 2025, 15:41 IST News opinion Opinion | Why F-35B's Kerala Monsoon Holiday is Embarrassing Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Saudi Gazette
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Stranded UK F-35 jet becomes unexpected star in Indian tourism campaign
DELHI — A state-of-the-art British fighter jet stuck at an airport in India for nearly three weeks now has sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could get stranded for days in a foreign country. The F-35B landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala on 14 June. The aircraft was diverted there after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian ocean and was unable to return to HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy's flagship carrier. It landed safely but it has since developed a technical snag and is unable to return to the carrier. Since the jet's landing, engineers from HMS Prince of Wales have assessed the aircraft, but the visiting teams have been unable to fix it so far. On Thursday, the British High Commission said in a statement to the BBC: "The UK has accepted an offer to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport. It will be moved to the hangar once UK engineering teams arrive with specialist equipment, thereby ensuring there is minimal disruption to scheduled maintenance of other aircraft. "The aircraft will return to active service once repairs and safety checks have been completed," it added. "Ground teams continue to work closely with Indian authorities to ensure safety and security precautions are observed." Authorities at Thiruvananthapuram airport told the BBC they were expecting technicians from the UK to arrive on Saturday. The $110m (£80m) jet is being guarded around the clock by six officers from the RAF. Dr Sameer Patil, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai, told the BBC the Royal Navy had only two options: "They can repair it and make it fly-worthy or they can fly it out in a bigger cargo plane such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft." The case of the stranded jet has also been raised in the House of Commons. On Monday, opposition Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty asked the government to clarify what was being done to secure it and return it to operational service, the UK Defence Journal reported. "What steps are the government taking to recover the plane, how much longer will that take, and how will the government ensure the security of protected technologies on the jet while it is in the hangar and out of view?" he was quoted as saying. The British armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, confirmed the aircraft remained under close UK control. "We continue to work with our Indian friends who provided first-class support when the F-35B was unable to return to the carrier," he said. "I am certain that the security of the jet is in good hands because Royal Air Force crew are with it at all times." F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability. So images of the "lonely F-35B", parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, have spawned memes on social media. One viral post joked that the jet had been put up for sale at an online site at a hugely competitive price of $4m. The listing claimed the jet included features like "automatic parking, brand-new tyres, a new battery and an automatic gun to destroy traffic violators". One user on X said the jet deserved Indian citizenship as it had been in the country long enough, while another suggested that India should start charging rent and that the Kohinoor diamond would be the most appropriate payment. On Wednesday, Kerala government's tourism department also joined in the fun with a post on X that said "Kerala, the destination you'll never want to leave." The post included an AI-generated photograph of an F-35B standing on the runway with coconut palm trees in the background. The text suggested that, like most visitors to the state described in tourism brochures as "God's own country" for its scenic beauty, the jet too was finding it hard to leave. Dr Patil says that each passing day that the jet remains stranded, "it adversely affects the image of the F-35Bs and the Royal Navy". "The jokes and memes and rumours and conspiracy theories are affecting the image and credibility of the British Royal Navy. The longer the jet stays stranded, the more disinformation will come out." The engineering issues "seem of a much more serious nature" than it was originally thought, he says. But most militaries, he adds, prepare for "a worst-case scenario" - and it is one since a jet is stranded on foreign soil. "Most militaries would have a standard operating procedure [SOP] on how to respond when something like this happens. So does the Royal Navy not have an SOP?" The optics of this, he says, are really bad. "If such a thing had happened in enemy territory, would they have taken this much time? This makes for very bad PR for a professional navy." — BBC
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Expert team may reach Kerala by this weekend to repair grounded F-35B of the U.K.
An expert team from the U.K. is expected to arrive in Kerala, possibly by this weekend, to inspect the grounded F-35B combat jet of the Royal Air Force (RAF). According to sources, the team will primarily explore three possibilities as part of repairing the aircraft and taking it back to the active service of the RAF. They include fixing the engineering issues of the aircraft at the place where it is stationed now (bay number four of the domestic terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport), towing it to the hangar facility of the airport or, as the last option, dismantling some parts of it here and airlifting them back to the U.K. or to the U.S. where the manufacturer Lockheed Martin is based. Only after an inspection of the aircraft by the expert team, a final call on these will be taken, said the sources. The expert team is expected to comprise members from Lockheed Martin apart from engineers from the U.K. At present, the aircraft is guarded by the RAF crew round the clock. Topic of discussion in the House of Commons of the U.K The grounding of the F-35B in Kerala has become a topic of discussion in the House of Commons of the U.K., with Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, raising the issue on June 30. Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard then responded that though grounded, the aircraft remains under close U.K. control, with the RAF personnel guarding it round the clock, while emphasising that the security of the jet is in good hands because the RAF crew are with it at all times. The aircraft has remained grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport since June 14 after it made an emergency landing. Though the emergency landing was made following adverse weather conditions in the Indian Ocean, the aircraft couldn't take off from here as serious engineering issues developed. The U.K. authorities are of the view that the fighter jet would be taken back to the active service of the RAF once the maintenance and repair of the aircraft are completed in Kerala, along with the mandatory safety checks. The aircraft was reportedly part of a joint naval drill conducted by the Indian Navy and the United Kingdom's Carrier Strike Group (UK CSG25) in the western Arabian Sea in June.
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
UK to acquire 15 more F-35B fighter jets despite Kerala grounding incident
Even as an F-35B fighter jet of the United Kingdom (UK) remains grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport in Kerala, raising concerns over the operational ability of the jet, the UK government has decided to procure 15 more F-35B jets as part of enhancing its national security. A press release issued by the UK government said that in the first phase, the UK will procure 12 new F-35A fighter jets and join NATO's dual-capable aircraft nuclear mission in a major boost for national security. As part of the second phase procurement plans of 27 aircraft, the UK government will purchase a combination of 12 F-35A and 15 F-35B variants, with options on further purchases examined in the Defence Investment Plan. The UK has a declared 'a headmark' (planned acquisition) of 138 aircraft through the life of the F-35 programme, said the statement. The purchase represents the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation. The UK will deploy the jets as part of NATO's nuclear Dual Capable Aircraft mission, strengthening NATO's nuclear deterrence posture. Meanwhile, Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, raised the issue of the grounded F-35B in Kerala in the House of Commons on 30 June. Earlier, in an 'X' post, he said that 'for over two weeks, one of our F-35B jets has been stranded at Thiruvananthapuram airport in India, unable to fly back to the Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group. I challenged the government over what they're doing to return the aircraft, and crucially, ensure its tech is secure.' In the House of Commons, he sought the response of the UK government on questions such as 'What steps are the government taking to recover the plane, how much longer will that take, and how will the government ensure the security of protected technologies on the jet while it is in the hangar and out of view?' To this, Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard responded that though grounded, the aircraft remains under close UK control, with RAF personnel guarding it around the clock, while emphasising that the security of the jet is 'in good hands because Royal Air Force crew are with it at all times.' The fifth-generation combat jet, famous for its short take-off and vertical landing capabilities, has remained grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram airport since June 14 after it made an emergency landing. Though the landing was made following the adverse weather conditions in the Indian Ocean, it could not take off from here after serious engineering issues developed. The UK authorities are of the view that the fighter jet would be brought back to the active service of the Royal Air Force once the maintenance and repair of the aircraft are completed in Kerala along with the mandatory safety checks. An expert team from the UK would arrive in Kerala soon to rectify the glitches. The aircraft was reportedly part of a joint naval drill conducted by the Indian Navy and the United Kingdom's Carrier Strike Group (UK CSG25) in the western Arabian Sea on the first of June.
The Independent
20-03-2025
- The Independent
MP: Drill music celebration of criminality pushing knife crime into mainstream
The celebration of criminality by drill musicians is contributing to the 'toxic' culture which is pushing knife crime into the mainstream, the Commons heard. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty accused the press, including the BBC, the Times and the Guardian, of validating gangs' use of music and videos to promote stabbings and taunt their opponents. He also criticised the 'hypocrisy' of brands such as Adidas, who continue to use convicted criminals in its advertising, whilst also conducting campaigns against knife crime. The success of drill rappers who have criminal convictions could suggest to some there is no consequence for carrying a knife, the MP for Huntingdon said. Mr Obese-Jecty said young black men are over represented in knife crime statistics as both the victims and perpetrators, adding that 'soft bigotry of low expectations makes black culture ripe for exploitation, as a cheap way to appear edgy, irrespective of the upstream impact'. Speaking in the Commons, he said: 'Whilst drill music is a genre, it is also the medium by which various groups, come gangs are able to taunt their ops. The catalyst for multiple stabbings, often fatal. 'The line between gang and a group are blurred at points of irrelevance. Meanwhile, the media either doesn't know or doesn't care. 'Inner city black youths are, whether consciously or unconsciously, expendable and interchangeable, over represented in statistics as both victim and perpetrator. The soft bigotry of low expectations makes black culture ripe for exploitation as a cheap way to appear edgy, irrespective of the upstream impact. 'But media, large corporations, even the BBC, play their part in the creation of this milieu, leaning into it and giving it validation. 'The cynical valorisation of the most detrimental aspects of urban black culture and the celebration of criminality via musicians is one of the most toxic overarching influences on how we have pushed this issue into the mainstream. 'Irving Adjei, aka Headie One, went to prison three times as a teenager, amongst them for dealing crack cocaine and heroin. 'In June 2019, Adjei was arrested for possession of a knife following a stop and search. 'Whilst on bail, Adjei completed his UK tour, released his album, which reached number five in the UK charts, appeared on Stormzy's album Heavy Is The Head, played Glastonbury and was featured on BBC Radio One, was used in an advertising campaign alongside heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for JD sports, and also fronted an advertising campaign for Adidas that December. 'That's the same Adidas who ran their No More Red knife crime awareness campaign alongside Arsenal FC just a couple of miles down the road, shortly after that, but are also happy to run an advertising campaign with a rapper on bail for possession of a knife. 'The hypocrisy of brands like Adidas is off the scale. 'Less than a month after launching this Adidas promo, Adjei was sentenced to six months with possession of that knife and went to prison for a fourth time. 'He was released that April. 'Six months later, his single is number two in the charts, and he's having praise lavished upon him by The Times newspaper, and he's never looked back. 'How does this convince anybody that there is … any penalty whatsoever for carrying a knife? 'If anything, it's been an asset for someone like him, the edginess I referred to earlier.' During the debate on knife crime, Mr Obese-Jecty criticised the Guardian for an article it wrote in 2019 about drill group OFB. OFB member Jayden O'Neil Crichlow is one of five people convicted of murdering 19-year-old Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck in Wood Green, north London, in February 2019. The MP said this occurred 300 metres from his home at the time, before saying: 'I challenged the author of the piece as to why it was appropriate to write a puff piece about a group that had one member on remand for murder. 'He cited that it was an editorial decision by the Guardian.' 'This is precisely the type of irresponsible media valorisation that illustrates my point,' he added. Another member of OFB, Kemani Duggan, the son of Mark Duggan who was shot dead by police in 2011, was jailed in 2024 for five years for having a gun. Labour MP Paulette Hamilton (Birmingham Erdington) said her nephew had been stabbed recently, turning her family's world 'upside down'. She said: 'My nephew, a kind-hearted, wonderful young man was brutally attacked in an act of senseless knife violence. His crime was being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. While his wounds are healing, it will take months for him to fully recover. The emotional trauma inflicted on him, and in our family however, is immeasurable. 'This is a pain no pain no family should ever have to endure.' Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson thanked MPs for their contributions and outlined the work being under taken by the Government to tackle knife crime. On the suggestion of rounded tips for kitchen knives, Dame Diana said: 'Nothing is off the table when it comes to tackling the scourge of knife crime and saving young lives. 'The Home Office is considering a proposal brought to us on rounded kitchen knives.'
