State Partnership Program

Video by Kyra Helwick

F-35 test pilot flies first roll-on landing aboard HMS Prince of Wales

F-35 Lightning II Pax River ITF

Oct. 19, 2023 | 4:51

An F-35 Lightning II test pilot performed the first roll-on landing of an F-35B fighter jet aboard the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
Marine Maj. Paul Gucwa piloted the short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the 5th generation strike aircraft for the first shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) aboard HMS Prince of Wales, Britain’s biggest warship, as part of developmental test phase 3 (DT-3) flight trials during the ship's deployment to the Western Atlantic for WESTLANT 2023.
“It was a wonderful experience to see our training and preparation lead to a predictable and comfortable outcome.” Gucwa said. “Expanding on the initial work the team executed during DT-1 and DT-2 is the next step in providing these types of increased capabilities to the warfighter, which is what flight test is all about” he said.
F-35B pilots usually approach the carrier from the port side to a position adjacent to a landing spot. They then transition, or fly sideways, to the landing spot and land vertically. More than looking and sounding different, the landing technique could lead to tactics where a pilot returns to the ship with heavier loads, for example more fuel or weapons.
(Video by Kyra Helwick)