It was a brief 45 minute flight. No sonic speed records were broken; no oceans or English Channels were crossed; no flag-waving crowds were expectantly assembled. Yet it was surely one of the most historic moments to date in the history of the Royal Air Force: the inaugural test flight of Britain’s new F-35B Lightning II. The $259 million vertical takeoff and landing stealth fighter is England’s first so-called “5th generation” combat aircraft, making the U.K. the only other country in NATO (besides America) to have stealth capabilities for its air force as of yet.
