{"id":94334,"date":"2018-07-25T15:30:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=5db4f3e5f8a83ede7615cfc16d847beb"},"modified":"2018-07-25T15:30:14","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:30:14","slug":"news-story-f-35-jets-use-new-vertical-landing-pads-at-raf-marham-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=94334","title":{"rendered":"News story: F-35 jets use new vertical landing pads at RAF Marham for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>To support the aircraft\u2019s short take off vertical landing (STOVL) capability, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is building three <abbr title=\"Vertical Landing Pads\">VLPs<\/abbr> through its contractors, a joint venture between Galliford Try and Lagan Construction, at RAF Marham. The Norfolk site is the Main Operating Base for the F-35 in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The F-35\u2019s STOVL capability will provide operational flexibility including landing on the Royal Navy\u2019s new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. Initial flight trials of the F-35 Lightning aircraft from HMS Queen Elizabeth are on track for 2018, allowing a coherent build-up towards delivering a carrier strike capability for the UK from 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Construction presented a significant engineering challenge. Due to standard concrete not being suitable, the design team had to source special materials from Germany to make a concrete which has the ability to withstand the high temperatures created by aircraft engines. Without this there would be a risk of cracking which in turn could present significant risk to the aircraft. This was the first time this material has been used outside the USA and required a rigorous testing process to ensure the landing pads were fit for purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Lt Col Ian Jenkins, Defence Infrastructure Organisation Project Manager for the <abbr title=\"Vertical Landing Pads\">VLPs<\/abbr>, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Vertical landing is a really exciting military capability and from an infrastructure perspective it\u2019s been fascinating to be involved in the design and construction process. It was really exciting and rewarding to see an F-35 landing on the first vertical landing pad to be finished and I look forward to seeing more as we continue to work on other infrastructure upgrades required for the F-35s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Each landing pad measures 67m long and 67m wide, with a central landing area of 30.5m by 30.5m.<br \/>\nFour F-35B Lightning aircraft arrived at their new home at RAF Marham on 6 June this year, starting the build-up of the newly-reformed 617 Squadron in the UK. The successful first use of these new <abbr title=\"Vertical Landing Pads\">VLPs<\/abbr> is another step closer towards successfully reaching Initial Operating Capability for the UK by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to its short take off and vertical landing capability, the F-35B\u2019s unique combination of stealth, cutting-edge radar, sensor technology, and electronic warfare systems bring all of capabilities of a fifth-generation fighter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK\u2019s new F-35 multi role combat jets have used their vertical landing capability to land on new Vertical Landing Pads (VLPs), at RAF Marham for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}