An American Air Force bomber plane was spotted flying over parts of Wales on Tuesday. The stealth plane was tracked in the skies heading west towards Aberystwyth and over Snowdonia on Tuesday May 3.
Departing from RAF Lakenheath, The United States Air Force bomber, with registration 13-5067, flew north west over the Welsh border just north of Shrewsbury. It then did a big loop around Bala in the Snowdonia National Park before heading back on the same line it came and continued to complete loops on the east coast of England, according to data from ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website.
The last available data for the F-35A was when it was traveling over Norfolk in the east.
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. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
Interest in U.S. Air Force activity in Europe is high after news that Boris Johnson will speak to Joe Biden about Western support for Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is currently under attack by Russian forces.
As part of NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, F-35s have been conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations throughout Eastern Europe. A contingent of American F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters arrived on NATO's eastern flank in February to fortify allied airspace following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, President Joe Biden said the movement was defensive in nature and the U.S. had "no intention of fighting Russia". In a statement, General Jeffrey L. Harrigian, U.S. Air Force in Europe–Air Forces Africa commander, said: "We are facing a dynamic environment, and the deployment of F-35s to NATO's eastern flank enhances our defensive posture and amplifies the Alliance's interoperability."
