As the HMS Prince of Wales and the rest of its carrier strike group docked in Singapore on Thursday, analysts noted that it arrived with an odd number of 11 F-35B fighter jets on its flight deck.
That’s because one was missing: F-35B Lightning number 034 that has been stranded for almost two weeks now at an airport in southern India. The state-of-the-art stealth fighter got caught out by bad weather during a sortie in the Indian ocean and requested an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, where it has been stuck ever since due to an engineering issue.
Built by the American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, the F-35B Lightning is one of the most advanced fighters on the planet, and is brimming with technology that India does not – yet – have access to.
British officials told The Independent they have no concerns about espionage and are grateful to their Indian allies for keeping the jet safe while it awaits essential repairs by a specialist team due to be flown out from the UK.
But analysts say that with each passing day that the jet sits disabled on foreign soil questions over what has gone wrong, and whether any third party might try to access the aircraft, will only grow louder.
Photos shared on social media have shown the lone fighter jet stationed on the tarmac with personnel from India’s Central Industrial Security Force – a branch of the military tasked with guarding key infrastructure – guarding the jet round the clock, which is sitting parked in the open amid monsoon rains near the domestic terminal.
“Surprised that a team of flight mechanics with spare parts hasn’t been flown in to fix it. Must be a bigger problem than we thought,” said Nicholas Drummond, former British Army officer and defence industry analyst, reacting to a photo of the fighter jet parked at the Indian airport, reading “034 he so lonely”.
A Royal Navy spokesperson rejected Indian media reports that suggested the jet had not been moved to a closed hangar because Britain does not trust India to keep it safe and untampered-with. They suggested this would have been done already had the necessary equipment and expertise been on hand.
“To minimise disruptions to the regular airport operations, the aircraft will be moved to a space in the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility hangar once specialist equipment and UK engineering teams arrive,” a Royal Navy spokesperson told The Independent.
The Independent has reached out to the Indian Air Force’s Southern Air Command for a comment on the security measures being taken to guard the prestigious fighter plane.
Mark Martin, an aviation expert, has said a warplane parked in the open cannot be tampered with, easing the security concerns around the stranded F-35B.
“The F-35B is in the public eye, most likely disabled from the inside and out in the open as the UK has their own satellites which help them in monitoring the aircraft through their satellites. So if anyone even comes near this, the UK will be the first to know,” he told The Independent.
Mr Martin also noted the defence treaty that the UK has with India that means both countries are obligated to protect each other’s assets in such circumstances.
“It’s most likely that if the aircraft is disabled, the Royal Air Force may send over a C-17 Globemaster or a heavy lift transport aircraft, and the aircraft will be loaded and flown back,” he said. “Because they can’t repair it in this part of the world.”
Dr Sameer Patil, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai, said the biggest danger stemming from the episode would be how it is perceived – both by allies Britain and India and their adversaries.
“As the UK waits for a detailed inspection of its aircraft, the optics of a stranded jet on a close ally’s soil are not looking good as it is giving way to rumours and speculations about Indians getting access to some of the classified technology – which is absolutely not true and not in the spirit of the UK-India strategic defence partnership,” he said.
“The thing I’m more worried about in the end will not be about the espionage or about dealing with the classified technology, but it will be about creating the risk and the distrust between the two partners which can be exploited by adversaries like China and Iran for their own advantage,” Dr Patil told The Independent.
In a show of solidarity, the Royal Navy spokesperson thanked the Indian side for their logistical and security support. “The safe landing, logistics and continuing security and organisational support provided by India in responding to this situation further demonstrates the close coordination and deepening relationship that exists between the Armed Forces of the UK and India,” they said.
