Britain to Receive No F-35s Until 2030s Despite Extreme Fighter Shortage

British government sources have confirmed that the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy are not expected to receive any additional F-35 fighter aircraft until the early 2030s, creating a multi-year pause in deliveries. This was confirmed despite the Ministry of Defence having announced plans in June 2025 to procure a second tranche of aircraft, following the delayed delivery of the last of 48 F-35B fighters on order in April. The disclosure was made in a written parliamentary response by Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard to a question from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty regarding the future procurement of F-35A fighters.

Responding to the inquiry, Pollard stated: “As previously announced, twelve F-35A will be ordered. The exact delivery profile of F-35 aircraft is subject to negotiation between the UK and multi-national Joint Program Office, but the UK hopes to start taking delivery of the next batch of F-35 aircraft from the early 2030s.” The wording indicates that deliveries remain subject to negotiations with the multinational F-35 Joint Program Office and leaves open the possibility that the schedule could slip beyond the early years of the next decade.

The announcement formalises what had previously been an implied gap in procurement. Following the delivery of 48 F-35B fighters, the next planned order comprises 27 additional F-35s, including 12 F-35A variants and 15 F-35B fighters. Because deliveries of this second batch will not begin until the early 2030s, the British frontline F-35 fleet will remain effectively unchanged in size for the remainder of the decade. While the decision to procure the F-35A was stated to be the result of a requirement for an airborne nuclear delivery platform, orders are expected to be expanded significantly further, as the Defence Ministry has confirmed ceasing all future orders for the older Eurofighters, which are significantly less capable but similarly costly. The F-35A is expected to provide a direct subsystem for further Eurofighter procurements. 

The contraction of the British fighter fleet over the past three decades has been among the most severe of any major NATO air force, having fallen from around 700 combat aircraft in the late Cold War years, to approximately 150–160 today, consisting entirely of Eurofighters and F-35Bs. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) proved particularly consequential, retiring the entire Harrier GR9 fleet several years early, and beginning the retirement of the Tornado F3 interceptor, both of them without a near term replacement. While the Defence Ministry originally planned to procure 232 Eurofighters, but successive cuts reduced this to 160 aircraft, with the obsolescence of those from earlier production batches having led them to be retired decades before the end of their service lives. With the large Tornado fleet retired in 2019, while Eurofighter retirements are ongoing, the need for F-35s is considered particularly urgent. 

The pause in deliveries will place continued pressure on the British F-35B fleet, while are relied on to form the air wings of the aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth, and for ground-based deployments. With a single carrier intended to have an air wing of 48 fighters, and able to accommodate significantly more, while further fighters are required for training, the Armed Forces are expected to have procured close to half of the fighters initially envisaged for the carrier program within the next decade, limiting maritime power projection capabilities. The lack of deliveries will also delay plans to add a second leg to the British nuclear triad. The large queues that have formed for deliveries of both the F-35A and F-35B are a primary factor limiting the Joint Program Office from making deliveries sooner, with the fighter’s position as the only NATO-standard aircraft of its generation in serial production having resulted in very high demand globally.