British F-35 Dismantling: Fighter Jet That Can Outsmart Enemies but Cannot Fit in a Plane

British F-35 Fighter Jet is now stationed at Kerala for more than two weeks. The jet was diverted to to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on June 14 due to bad weather conditions and then it never took off. No, it’s not because of the charm of Kerala which is all over the internet as a meme. The fighter jet developed an engine issue. Upon assessment, it was decided that a British engineering team will have to come to get it fixed. Since then, multiple attempts have been made to fix the jet but it continues to remain grounded in Kerala. Now engineers are suspecting hydraulic issues too. 

British F-35 is one of the best and $110-million worth stealth jet fighters. It is one of the smartest and highly manoeuvrable fighter jet that can avoid radar, gather intelligence while in the air, and even carry nuclear bombs. This military plane is like the iPhone Pro Max, but a hundred times more powerful and a hundred times more hidden. But UK is now considering to dismantle the jet and airlift it to back home. It is said that the B F-35 fighter will not fit on a cargo plane. To move the jet that was made to shatter sound barriers, it has to be torn apart.

British F-35 Fighter Jet Will Be Dismantled Before Shipping 

The B F-35 fighter jet, in order to be taken back to its homeland, will have to go a surgery before it flies. This won’t be rolling up a ramp. To accommodate the jet fighter inside the huge cargo plane C-17 Globemaster, the F-35B will be taken apart piece by piece, including its wings and only a small number of engineers from Lockheed Martin (the corporation that develops the plane) trained can touch it. 

The whole dismantling process will be done under close military supervision.  According to a media report, every part of the jet including the minor screws also will be coded and secure in separate boxes to leave no room for blunders since this plane holds vast military secrets.

Costly affair 

The F-35B has a lot of stealth technology that makes it hard for attackers to find.  It also uses AI-powered sensors, encrypted software, and materials that block radar to help in modern warfare.  It's not just about money if even a small piece of this technology gets out.  It's for the safety of the country. 

Removing such fighter jets off the ground is also a costly affair. In 2019, a Florida base witnessed dismantling of a F-35 Lightning III and flew it to another military location in Utah.  As per the media report, the process took years and the total cost went up to Rs 1.7 crore ($200,000). 

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