Eight F-35A Lightning II jets from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing arrived at RAF Lakenheath in the UK on 4 September during their return from a combat deployment in the CENTCOM area of operations. The aircraft were split into two flights, with four more expected to transit through Britain shortly after as the unit continues its homeward movement to Burlington, Vermont.
The jets are part of the 134th Fighter Squadron and had deployed to the Middle East in February via RAF Lakenheath and Morón Air Base. The stopover fits the staging pattern used for long-range transatlantic fighter movements, with UK bases serving as refuelling and handover points on the route home.
Open-source reporting identified the first eight aircraft individually, including one jet with much of its external identifying markings obscured. The wider deployment had previously followed an earlier staging through Puerto Rico, underscoring the unit’s unusually complex movement chain before and after operations in the Middle East.