According to information published by the Royal Air Force on March 8, 2022, F-35B Lightning aircraft from RAF Marham have arrived at Amari airbase in Estonia to carry out NATO enhanced Vigilance Activity.

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RAF F-35B Lightning aircraft (Picture source: Royal Air Force)

This activity provides air policing of NATO airspace, further contributing to the security of Europe. Previously the airbase has been regularly used by RAF Typhoons on Operation AZOTIZE to carry out the NATO Baltic Air Policing, safeguarding the integrity of NATO’ airspace.

The RAF has also deployed additional Typhoons from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions.

The F-35 has a wing-tail configuration with two vertical stabilizers canted for stealth. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, rudders, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); leading-edge root extensions also run forwards to the inlets

It can be armed with 1 GAU-12/U 25 mm cannon (F-35A mounted internally with 180 rounds, F-35B/C mounted as an external pod with 220 rounds) and 4 AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder, or AIM-132 ASRAAM or 2 2,000 lbs. air-to-ground munitions (2 x 1,000 lbs. in F-35B).