NICOSIA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Six new F-35B Lightning stealth aircraft arrived at the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri in the south of Cyprus on Tuesday afternoon to take part in familiarization exercises, the English language Cyprus Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The paper cited Group Captain Ian Townsend, commander of the RAF Marham Station in Britain, from where the planes flew off, as saying that this was the first overseas deployment of the F-35 jets.
Townsend was quoted as saying that "the exercise in Akrotiri will prove our ability to operate F-35 away from RAF Marham and allow us to learn the lessons of operating the air system whilst on deployment."
According to a previous announcement by the UK's Ministry of Defence, the F-35 jets will eventually replace a squadron of eight Tornados, which were withdrawn from service after several years of operation in support of NATO interventions in Libya, Syria and Iraq.
The base at Akrotiri also provided logistics support for NATO operations in Afghanistan.
The British Ministry of Defence said that the exercise will also examine all aspects of moving these aircraft to a new location, including logistics, maintenance and sustainment of equipment and crew, while also enhancing preparedness for first operational carrier deployment.
The F-35B Lightning planes combine radar-evading stealth technology with supersonic speeds and the ability to conduct short take-offs and vertical landings.
The United Kingdom retained two bases on Cyprus when it granted independence to the eastern Mediterranean island after a century of British rule.
Both of these bases are on the southern shores of Cyprus, one near the city of Larnaca and the other at Akrotiri, next to the port city of Limassol. The Akrotiri base is considered to be the most important, serving both as an air base and as a communications and surveillance center, equipped with powerful radar and monitoring installations.
