Six F-35Bs have been despatched to RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus in a transfer, sources instructed The Occasions, meant to higher shield base ought to present tensions within the area break into open battle.
The six jets left RAF Marham in two batches on Friday Feb. 6, 2025, accompanied by two Voyager refueling plane from RAF Brize Norton. Flight monitoring knowledge exhibits the lead tanker, which flew the entire distance to Akrotiri, forming up with the F-35s over south west England earlier than continuing south over France, throughout Sicily, and thru the Mediterranean to Cyprus.
Two RAF Voyagers🇬🇧 in convoy heading in the direction of the Med, seemingly with 6 F-35s (4+2) from RAF Marham pic.twitter.com/OTuBdCUDot
— Saint1 (@Saint1Mil) February 6, 2026
Sources from the UK’s Ministry of Defence reportedly confirmed to The Occasions that the jets had been being moved to extend Akrotiri’s defensive capability if the scenario within the area turns into “scorching”. Most protests in Iran – which had been the trigger célèbre for President Trump’s mooting of navy intervention – have been quelled after reported mass killings by state forces involving tens of hundreds of casualties, although remarks from the U.S. continuously recommend that offensive motion in opposition to the Iranian regime remains to be on the desk. A collection of official talks between the 2 nations are nonetheless in progress.
💥Britain has deployed fighter jets to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to defend the bottom and the sovereign base territories from any assaults, sources inform the @thetimes. Six F-35Bs left RAF Marham on Friday amid considerations the scenario within the area turn into “scorching”. (Noticed by @Saint1Mil)
— Larisa Brown (@larisamlbrown) February 6, 2026
RAF Akrotiri already hosts 10 Storm FGR4s and has had a steady fighter presence since 2014 as a part of Operation Shader. In the course of the Iranian strike on Israel in 2024, Typhoons flying from Akrotiri engaged and destroyed a minimum of three Iranian drones.
Primarily appearing as a everlasting plane provider within the Japanese Mediterranean, the bottom exists as a part of a British Abroad Territory and the UK maintains full sovereignty – mitigating the necessity for a overseas nation to log off on any potential actions. Alongside RAF fighters, the bottom additionally supplies a house for deployed Protector RG1 drones, transport and refueling plane, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) plane. A U.S. Air Drive U-2 detachment moreover flies from the bottom. At any time when UK reinforcements are required within the Center East, Akrotiri is continuously one of many first ports of name.
As a hard and fast location, although, not like an plane provider it’s extra susceptible to assaults by hostile actors. Akrotiri is nicely throughout the vary of Iran’s extra succesful missiles however the UK’s shortfall of ground-based air defence capabilities imply that safety is proscribed to the deployed fighter plane alongside any suitably outfitted Royal Navy ship which may be current within the area (presently none).
The F-35B in UK service nonetheless lacks the RAF’s potent lengthy vary Meteor air to air missile, however is able to carrying the extremely regarded infrared-guided Superior Quick Vary Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM) externally in addition to AIM-120 AMRAAMs internally.
Although the F-35B can’t compete with the Storm for the variety of these weapons in a position to be carried on every sortie, nonetheless a pressure of six plane does nonetheless improve the whole variety of out there plane and out there weapons that may be within the air. Certainly, when deployed on board the Queen Elizabeth class plane provider air defence is among the F-35B’s most constant roles, and the UK F-35 pressure has carried out air policing deployments. In comparison with the Storm as it’s presently outfitted, the F-35B provides a considerably extra superior energetic electronically scanned array (AESA) radar functionality within the type of the AN/APG-81. An AESA improve for the RAF’s Typhoons is within the works however is but to be rolled out.
Additional into the Center East, 12 Squadron – a joint UK-Qatar unit – has deployed 4 Typhoons at to Qatar on the Qatar Authorities’s request for ‘defensive functions’. These jets notably arrived in Qatar with a full load of eight air to air missiles. With an present dedication of jets already at Akrotiri plus twelve jets within the U.S. for Crimson Flag, alongside the 24/7 fast response alert tasking, the RAF’s Storm fleet presently has little spare capability. The deployment moreover provides the F-35B crews from Marham some expertise on a frontline, land-based tasking after 2025 noticed the fleet targeted on the Service Strike Group 25 deployment.
The final time the UK’s F-35Bs deployed to Akrotiri was in 2019 for Train Lightning Daybreak, concurrently seeing the pressure debut in fight over Iraq and Syria. The UK’s Lightning pressure is shaped of each Royal Air Drive and Royal Navy personnel, every squadron containing members of each whatever the squadron’s personal lineage. Lively frontline squadrons presently embody 617 Squadron RAF and 809 Naval Air Squadron, with 207 Squadron RAF appearing because the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) and 17 Squadron RAF – primarily based within the U.S. – because the Operational Analysis Unit (OEU).
U.S. Buildup
Whether or not these British deployments signify any perception on the UK Authorities’s half {that a} U.S. operation in opposition to Iran is forthcoming within the quick time period is unclear. Reasonably than having this extra intelligence, the strikes might have been coordinated as a preemptive measure. It’s no secret that the U.S. has been increase its forces round Iran, each with publicly introduced deployments in addition to extra discreet ones.
A number of comprehensible conjecture over the latest deployment of @RoyalAirForce fight plane to the japanese Mediterranean and Center East. Not all deployments are geared toward fast operational impact: reinforcement, reassurance & messaging are normally the primary causes.🧵1/8
— Greg Bagwell (@gregbagwell) February 7, 2026
LATEST: Updates on the U.S. navy buildup within the Center East
U.S. Air Drive
• Roughly 110 C-17 transport flights, 5 flights by C-5M Tremendous Galaxy heavy-lift, and quite a few C-130J/H flights have moved troops and tools into the area.
• As much as 20 aerial refuelling… pic.twitter.com/23eNpFuk7j
— Egypt’s Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) February 3, 2026
A few of these actions had been hindered for a time by an incident at Morón Air Base, Spain, which noticed a U.S. Air Drive KC-46 abort takeoff whereas working at pace down the runway, apparently attributable to engine troubles. Reference was additionally made to all eight tires having burst, although this was seemingly a deliberate blast deflation by the thermal fuse plugs in every wheel which are designed to make sure a comparatively secure, managed failure ought to the tires exceed their design stress and/or temperature.
The plane, with blown tires, was subsequently caught on the runway and brought on main disruption to the airfield – a frequent stopover for U.S. forces shifting into the Mediterranean.
KC-46 20-46073 “GOLD71” nonetheless sitting on the runway as of at present at Morón. pic.twitter.com/4hThGAtdBS
— Santi Blánquez (@SantiBlanquez) February 3, 2026
Morón AB – LEMO nonetheless NOTAM’d closed till the sixth. GOLD 71 shelled engine and blew 8 tires. The KC-46 doesn’t have thrust reversers. pic.twitter.com/F8ImJGqgc6
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) February 2, 2026
GOLD 71 was, as indicated by its callsign, working a Coronet flight. Coronet is a time period utilized by the U.S. to establish actions of plane over lengthy distances supported by the fixed presence of air to air refueling plane. On this case, GOLD 71 was supporting a pressure of Vermont Air Nationwide Guard (ANG) F-35As crossing the Atlantic in the direction of the Mediterranean.
One of many six F-35As🇺🇸 from the Vermont ANG departing Lajes yesterday, now at Rota🇪🇸. Credit score to Island Aviation Terceira Azores, his video at Hyperlink: pic.twitter.com/GJk196B3uE
— Saint1 (@Saint1Mil) February 1, 2026
Notably, these Vermont ANG plane had beforehand been deployed to Puerto Rico and performed an element in Operation Absolute Resolve – the U.S. mission that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
