Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois had a chance to meet some of the Royal Navy's future jet fighter pilots when he paid a visit to their base at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose in Cornwall.
The pilots, who were training on Hawk jet trainer aircraft, are preparing to re-equip with the new F-35 Lightning II "stealth fighter", which will be based on the Royal Navy's new 65,000 ton Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, the first of which is now fitting out at Rosyth in Scotland, prior to commencing her sea trials next year.
A number of Fleet Air Arm pilots are already training on the F-35 in the United States and one of them recently topped his class and was sent on to become an instructor at "Top Gun", the US Navy's famous air combat school, featured in the iconic movie starring Tom Cruise. Speaking about his visit to RNAS Culdrose Mark Francois said:
"The F-35 is the world's most advanced fighter aircraft, whose stealth technology makes it very difficult to detect and as such it was great to have an opportunity to visit Culdrose where many of its future pilots will be initially trained. It was also heartening to hear that when we have sent pilots to America they have topped the class, which is something we can be very proud of."