F-35 fighter centres to create 300 jobs at RAF Marham in Norfolk

The new F-35 strike aircraft will be flying from RAF Marham by 2018

New £167m centres for aircraft maintenance and training at RAF Marham in Norfolk are set to create 300 new jobs, it has been announced.

Due to open in 2018, three new buildings on the site with provide training facilities for pilots and ground crews for the UK's first F-35 Lightning II fighter II aircraft.

Work on building the three facilities will start this month.

The project is being funded by the Ministry of Defence.

One of the new building will be the Logistics Operations Centre

The investment has secured RAF Marham's future as the home of the F-35 fighter in the UK.

The 300 jobs will be creating in building the centres.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "This is an important milestone in the delivery of the UK's new cutting-edge combat aircraft. It underlines the vital contribution British industry is making to the global F-35 programme.

"The planes are part of our plan for stronger and better defence, backed by a budget that is rising this year for the first time in six years, and will keep rising until the end of the decade."

Pilots will be trained at one of the centres