Lockheed Martin and its F-35 industry partner, BAE Systems, announced this week that the two defense firms have signed an agreement setting out how to support Britain’s Lightning II fighters. The deal, announced at the Farnborough Air Show, declares that BAE will take the lead on providing sustainment activities for the life of the program, expected to extend through the next 40 years. The Lightning II is expected to equip both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy’s aviation arm.
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.