For the first time in almost 15 years a Royal Navy fast-jet squadron is flying from the deck of a British aircraft carrier.

F-35B stealth fighters from 809 Naval Air Squadron have joined HMS Prince of Wales in the North Sea for a month of high-octane training. 

The state-of-the-art jets, which cost close to £100m each and are packed with some of the world’s most advanced weaponry and tech, touched down on the huge flight deck of the £3.5billion naval behemoth.

They will be backed by counterparts from the RAF’s famed 617 Squadron, dubbed ‘The Dambusters’ for the unit’s historic role blowing up Nazi dams in the Second World War. 

Teams of elite stealth jet pilots from the 809 NAS will be sharpening critical war-fighting skills landing and taking off from the 65,000-tonne carrier’s deck, which is the size of three football pitches. 

It comes ahead of the carrier’s major global deployment next year which will see the ship spearheading one of the most powerful carrier strike groups on earth to the Indo-Pacific region. 

The fifth-generation jets made the short flight from their base at RAF Marham to the Prince of Wales ahead of a major wargame in the North Sea later this month. 

Commander Nick Smith said the arrival of the F-35s was a milestone moment for 809 NAS which only formed at the end of last year as the second of two UK front-line stealth jet squadrons.

‘This is a big moment for 809 NAS, a vital building block to working up with the carrier strike group in preparation for the deployment next year,’ said Cdr Smith.

‘To be the commanding officer of a squadron with such a proud heritage is a huge privilege. We are still in our infancy forming as an F-35B squadron, so joining a carrier for the first time is truly a milestone.’

The last Royal Navy fast-jet to land on a British warship was in November 2010 when a Harrier from 800 Naval Air Squadron touched down on HMS Ark Royal. 

A month later and the UK disbanded its Harrier fleet to make way for the F-35 before later selling 72 jets for £116million to America.

The move outraged military chiefs at the time and left the Navy with a huge capability void for the best part of a decade. 

Speaking of the decision this week, one former Harrier pilot told MailOnline: ‘It was a disgrace. It a terrible travesty and a waste of three decades of really clever development and world-leading British technology – it was such a poor decision.’

The stealth jets will be supported by some 200 engineers, technicians, armourers, logistics and security experts, chefs and meteorologists during their training run. 

As with the two other F-35B Lightning formations based at Marham, 617 and 207 Squadrons, it draws its personnel roughly 50/50 from the RAF and Fleet Air Arm.

For three in every five personnel in 809 NAS – pilots, but especially their vital supporting ground crew – this is their first time at sea.

‘For me, it’s about forging one team, embracing everything from operating from the flight deck to arming and maintaining the F-35s in the hangar.’

F-35 pilot Lieutenant Commander Armstrong said that while the jets were generations ahead of the Harrier which preceded it, operating it from a carrier remained a challenge.

He and his colleagues trained extensively on simulators before touching down for real on HMS Prince of Wales’ 920ft-long flight deck.

‘It’s a common misconception that everything on an F-35 is automated,’ he said.

‘The aircraft will relieve you of a great deal of the workload. Landing is easier, but not easy. Imagine approaching, in the dark, 105ft above the ship, then moving across to set down on the deck.’

Cdr Smith added: ‘The fundamentals of operating F-35B at sea, compared to land – whether you are a pilot or an engineer – are broadly the same. It’s just that everything is much more challenging on a ship. It’s noisier, windier and much darker at night, while space is far more confined in every sense.’

Despite having worked side-by-side with the Navy for four years on the F-35, the RAF’s Sergeant ‘Thorpy’ Thorpe has never been to sea before.

He’s part of a team of six experienced non-commissioned officers/senior ratings responsible for the mechanical side of the sophisticated stealth fighters.

‘On paper eight months is a long time away, but if you look at the potential stops involved – places we in the air force wouldn’t normally visit,’ he said.

‘I’ve worked alongside the Navy for four years now and while there are slightly different skills and trades, at the end of the day, we’re all working to the same, high, professional standard.

‘There’s some good banter – and that’s absolutely a good sign that we get on. We go out of our way to call the carrier a ‘boat’ and ask where it’s ‘parked’ to wind up sailors – who always like to remind us that they are the ‘senior service’.’

The squadron will undergo intensive training over the next couple of weeks as pilots earn their carrier qualifications and personnel integrate with the ship’s company and grow accustomed to the routine at sea.

Thereafter training moves up through the gears as HMS Prince of Wales is joined by escorts and support ships to form a carrier strike group for a fortnight-long exercise focused in the North Sea, Strike Warrior.