F35B Airwing

[Pelican]

What weapons can British F-35 jets carry?


British F-35Bs are currently only certified to carry relatively few weapon types, but that’s set to change with future upgrades.
According to Jeremy Quin, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, the following systems are currently operated and planned.

“Currently the UK F-35B Lightning is cleared to employ the Paveway IV Precision Guided Munition, the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) and the Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM).

Future Capability uplifts will introduce the Spear Capability 3 Air to Surface weapon and the Meteor Air to Air Missile.”

However, as I reported previously, British F-35B jets were to be equipped with Meteor missiles by the ‘middle of this decade’, but this has slipped to 2027. The Ministry of Defence previously published its tenth annual summary of the defence equipment plan. According to a statement:

“Building on the 2020 summary, it sets out our plans for the next 10 years to deliver and support the equipment our armed forces need to do the jobs we ask of them.”

The document contains a great deal of technical information about the projects and the management/funding side of them and you can read that for yourself here but below I’ll try and present the most pertinent information relating to the project in question.

Meteor on F-35B – Equipment Background
The project is described as follows:

“Meteor is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile featuring active radar guidance and exceptional longrange performance. Developed by a 6- nation partnership, it is currently in service on Typhoon and will undergo modification to allow internal carriage on Lightning II.”

In Year Progress Update
“Meteor was assigned a place in the Followon Development Programme by the F-35 Joint Programme Office and contracts were awarded to Lockheed Martin in the early summer. However, entry into service is not anticipated to be until 2027 and there is a possibility that integration pressures in the programme may incur further delays because of challenges in the wider F-35 programme.”

You can read the report here.

What was the original plan?
British F-35B jets were to be equipped with Meteor missiles by the ‘middle of this decade’ originally. The information came to light in a response to a written question submitted in the House of Commons.

Mark Francois, Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford, asked:
“To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his timetable is for the Meteor air-to-air missile to achieve initial operating capability on the F-35 aircraft.”

Jeremy Quin, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, responded:
“Initial development work for Meteor integration has progressed well. The Lightning Delivery Team within Defence Equipment and Supply (DE&S), through F-35 Joint Program Office has signed a contract to integrate Meteor in the middle of the decade.”

Previously we reported that a team of BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and MBDA engineers are enhancing the capability of the UK’s fleet of F-35 Lightning aircraft by commencing work on the integration of next generation weapons.

“BAE Systems has received an initial funding award from Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the F-35 programme, to start integration efforts for MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and SPEAR precision surface attack missile. Under this initial package of work BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin will also complete further integration work with MBDA on ASRAAM and with Raytheon on Paveway IV, initially integrated in support of delivering Initial Operating Capability for the UK.”

Contines at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/what-we ... 5WXG1RfH68 - which includes embedded links.

[ivorthediver]

Well David this is all fine and encouraging like all the other "Projected upgrades" BUT , if our current government fuelled by Boris's enthusiasm to give the uk a military defence system worth a dam including our commitment to the Ukrainian fails..... then we will see all these urgent upgrades scrapped as we slide back into the opposition camps safe zone of non committal apathy and funding withdrawals to these defence priorities we urgently need to stay defendable rather than a subjugated diluted also ran with no say in our future .........

[Pelican]

Well David this is all fine and encouraging like all the other "Projected upgrades" BUT , if our current government fuelled by Boris's enthusiasm to give the uk a military defence system worth a dam including our commitment to the Ukrainian fails..... then we will see all these urgent upgrades scrapped as we slide back into the opposition camps safe zone of non committal apathy and funding withdrawals to these defence priorities we urgently need to stay defendable rather than a subjugated diluted also ran with no say in our future .........

I'm sure Ben Wallace is not exactly silent Ivor and the signs are that even the most 'head in the sands' personages in the government are having to face up to their duty of defending the nation or closer to home in our case we have got to have anti ship missiles to defend what ships we have or we will not have them for very long should things take a turn for the worse. I could go but as we were wisely taught as RN Boys "Dont't get involved in politics or religion."

[ivorthediver]

your correct of course but its worrying to see the way things seem to be going but then we only have the information metered out from the media which we both know is only about 5% fact and 95% hype

[Pelican]

your correct of course but its worrying to see the way things seem to be going but then we only have the information metered out from the media which we both know is only about 5% fact and 95% hype

A bit more info Ivor regarding the bigger picture - https://raf.mod.uk/news/articles/2-35-b ... 0-uk-jobs/

And - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/typhoon ... DSFqJzCbos

I am not sure whether the F35B's radar is superior or even if they have something similar.

[Pelican]

Navy has completed F-35 ejection seat inspections; Marines at 90 percent

Earlier on Friday the Air Force announced that the majority of its F-35A jets were grounded to check on the ejection seat issue.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story ran under the headline “Navy, Marines join Air Force in grounding F-35s for ejection seat inspections,” with content that reflected that headline. That was based on information provided to Breaking Defense by the F-35 Joint Program Office, which indicated that ongoing plane inspections were being conducted around the CAD issue. After publication, the Navy and Marines contacted Breaking Defense stating that their fleets have largely completed their inspections, contrary to the statement from the JPO. This story has been updated to reflect the statements of the JPO, Navy and Marines.

Continues at - https://breakingdefense.com/2022/07/nav ... spections/

[As far as I am aware, to date, there has been no official announcement/statement from the MOD/RAF/RN]

[Pelican]

Britain replacing crashed F-35

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed plans to replace an F-35B that crashed on take off from HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The Ministry of Defence ‘annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022’ consists of a Performance Report, an Accountability Report and the Annual Accounts, providing detail on Defence activity undertaken during financial year 2021 to 2022. Essentially, it sums up procurement plans.

The report says
“48 F-35B Lightning aircraft are on contract. We have made provision to buy additional
aircraft, and our planning assumption is that we will purchase additional F-35B Lightning
aircraft, but this remains subject to negotiation. One of these is a replacement of the one lost during CSG 21. The approvals for the advanced electronically scanned array radar programme are complete and will see a prototype radar, ready for integration and flight trials on Typhoon, in 2023.”

What happened?
In November last year, a British F-35 from HMS Queen Elizabeth crashed into the Mediterranean Sea; the pilot ejected safely. The Ministry of Defence said at the time:
“A British F35 pilot from HMS Queen Elizabeth ejected during routine flying operations in the Mediterranean this morning. The pilot has been safely returned to the ship and an investigation has begun, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

In December, the Ministry of Defence found the location of the F-35B. National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove told the Commons Defence Committee in December:

“The pilot was recovered safely and is still undergoing medical checks. We are hopefully that he will be absolutely fine. It would be premature of me to comment on the reasons for the accident. The recovery of the flight data recorder and the wreckage are really vital for an accurate investigation to determine the causes of the crash. Clearly the swift recovery of the aircraft is what we would like to do and we are working closely with allies on the mechanics of that.”

Britain and America then engaged in operations to salvage the F-35B, which ditched into the ocean after taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth. The salvage was successful.

SOURCE UKDJ

[Pelican]

A F35B Lightning ZM150/016 of the Marham based joint UKLF seen during a recent base families day flown by a 207 Sqn (OCU) pilot.

24 UK F35Bs are in service to date, shortly to be joined by 3 more, and the ever growing fleet size will be at 33 by early 2023 and 48 by late 2025/early 2026 (Tranche 1 complete).
Detailed order plans for Tranche 2 deliveries beyond 2025 and out to 2030 have yet to be announced but it has been stated that the fleet size will grow to around 70-75 ac during the T2 purchase phase allowing the formation of at least another 1 (or maybe 2) operational squadrons by the end of the decade.
Present UKLF planning sees it stabilising at 4 op sqns plus a large OCU sqn and a small US based OEU sqn by the early 2030s.

[Pelican]

What weapons can British F-35 jets carry?

British F-35Bs are currently only certified to carry relatively few weapon types, but that’s set to change with future upgrades.
According to Jeremy Quin, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, the following systems are currently operated and planned.

“Currently the UK F-35B Lightning is cleared to employ the Paveway IV Precision Guided Munition, the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) and the Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM).

Future Capability uplifts will introduce the Spear Capability 3 Air to Surface weapon and the Meteor Air to Air Missile.”

However, as I reported previously, British F-35B jets were to be equipped with Meteor missiles by the ‘middle of this decade’, but this has slipped to 2027. The Ministry of Defence previously published its tenth annual summary of the defence equipment plan. According to a statement:
“Building on the 2020 summary, it sets out our plans for the next 10 years to deliver and support the equipment our armed forces need to do the jobs we ask of them.”

The document contains a great deal of technical information about the projects and the management/funding side of them and you can read that for yourself here but below I’ll try and present the most pertinent information relating to the project in question.

Meteor on F-35B – Equipment Background
The project is described as follows:
“Meteor is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile featuring active radar guidance and exceptional longrange performance. Developed by a 6- nation partnership, it is currently in service on Typhoon and will undergo modification to allow internal carriage on Lightning II.”

In Year Progress Update
“Meteor was assigned a place in the Followon Development Programme by the F-35 Joint Programme Office and contracts were awarded to Lockheed Martin in the early summer. However, entry into service is not anticipated to be until 2027 and there is a possibility that integration pressures in the programme may incur further delays because of challenges in the wider F-35 programme.”

You can read the report here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -plan-2021

What was the original plan?
British F-35B jets were to be equipped with Meteor missiles by the ‘middle of this decade’ originally. The information came to light in a response to a written question submitted in the House of Commons.

Mark Francois, Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford, asked:
“To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his timetable is for the Meteor air-to-air missile to achieve initial operating capability on the F-35 aircraft.”

Jeremy Quin, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, responded:
“Initial development work for Meteor integration has progressed well. The Lightning Delivery Team within Defence Equipment and Supply (DE&S), through F-35 Joint Program Office has signed a contract to integrate Meteor in the middle of the decade.”

Previously we reported that a team of BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and MBDA engineers are enhancing the capability of the UK’s fleet of F-35 Lightning aircraft by commencing work on the integration of next generation weapons.

“BAE Systems has received an initial funding award from Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the F-35 programme, to start integration efforts for MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and SPEAR precision surface attack missile. Under this initial package of work BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin will also complete further integration work with MBDA on ASRAAM and with Raytheon on Paveway IV, initially integrated in support of delivering Initial Operating Capability for the UK.”

Cliff Waldwyn, Head of Combat Air, Group Business Development of MBDA, said:
“This is a significant milestone for the UK Combat Air’s capability. This initial package of work officially commences the integration of Meteor and SPEAR and will enhance the operational capability of the UK’s Lightning Force in the future; it is also a positive step for the wider F-35 enterprise as it adds additional capability choice for international customers. MBDA’s integration team have worked well with our BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin colleagues and we plan to build on this excellent foundation into the future on this follow-on modernisation work.”

Meteor is a ‘Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile’ system developed by MBDA. The Meteor programme sees the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden working together to provide access to technology and expertise across those nations.

You can read more about the missile here:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/the-met ... e-a-guide/

Source UKDJ

[Pelican]

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, RAF Marham has been on the highest alert. Nick Rufford meets the pilots preparing for the unthinkable

A posse of Russian jets is flying fast and low over the North Sea. The fighting in Ukraine has breached its borders and the intruders have entered Nato airspace, heading for the east coast, destination unknown. Within minutes four F-35Bs have launched, flown in a combat formation — a “four-ship” — by Britain’s elite fighter pilots. As the bandits enter UK airspace a dogfight ensues. It sounds like a Tom Clancy opener, but these skirmishes are taking place almost daily, with only one difference: the bandits aren’t Russian. They’re friendly planes piloted by trainers, role-playing as the enemy.

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Britain’s air bases have been on maximum alert and the hi-tech planes that provide Nato’s key defence are ready to scramble at a moment’s notice, 24 hours a day. On the front line is RAF Marham in Norfolk. Surrounded by wheat and potato fields, the former Second World War bomber station doesn’t seem all that imposing. The airfield’s runways, taxiways and hangars sprawl over more than 1,600 acres, but they are built into a dip and the curved-roof aircraft sheds are grass-covered, making them almost invisible. Blink as you drive through farmland along the A1122 and you’ll miss it. But modern combat is all about air superiority. Marham is the closest British base to the fighting. From here to the Belarusian border it’s just 55 minutes by fast jet. Once you’re past Marham’s guardhouse and through the high perimeter fence you’re in the world of fast jets, buzz cuts and flying suits. This is where the “best of the best” pilots come to prepare for aerial combat.

If Marham is Britain’s answer to Top Gun, then the role of Tom Cruise’s character, Maverick, falls to Commander Tim Flatman, a 47-year-old flight instructor with 207 Squadron — motto: Semper paratus (Always prepared). Flatman took charge last November, just three months before Russia’s armour rolled into Ukraine. Suitably lean and dressed in flying overalls — known as a “green growbag” (everything in the military has a nickname) — Flatman is in charge of knocking new arrivals into shape. Rookies need at least 20 hours of cockpit experience plus time in a flight simulator at Marham to get their wings.

Most trainees are already proficient at the controls of Boeing F/A-18s, Eurofighter Typhoons or Tornado GR4s. These planes are formidable machines in their own right but in aviation parlance they are Gen Four — fourth-generation. To face the latest threat, Flatman must push the pilots’ flying skills to the next level so they can handle the F-35, the world’s most advanced combat aircraft, made by the defence company Lockheed Martin. “My job is converting them to Gen Five and a new type of warfare,” he says.

Also called the Lightning, like its famous British forbear, the F-35 is a technological leap ahead of rivals. Bristling with weapons and electronics it’s equipped with stealth technology that experts say reduces it to the size of a golf ball on enemy radar. It’s also mind-bogglingly complicated — a flying computer with the processing power of several mainframes.

When I take my place in an F-35 training cockpit I instinctively grab the throttle and the sidestick wondering how hard it can be. Very, it turns out. There are 22 buttons on the two controls and each has up to five modes — including “dogfight”, or close combat. The pilot must be able to toggle between them from memory without looking.

Seasoned, doughty and quick with one-liners, Flatman caught the aviator bug when he started flying gliders, aged 15, then joined the Royal Navy with a plan to fly Lynx and Wasp anti-submarine helicopters. Halfway through the course he was talent-spotted and sent to train on fast jets. “I leapt at it and never looked back,” he says. He trained at RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales, teaching the aerial art of dogfighting. Students learn how to evade deadly moves by hostile aircraft and counterattack. A specialist in Russian tactics, Flatman usually takes the part of the enemy, typically Mikoyan MiG or Sukhoi fighters.

An F-35 pilot can shoot down an enemy while it’s still over the horizon — “beyond visual” — but rules of engagement typically require a pilot to make eyeball contact and give an intruder fair warning to avoid an innocent encounter escalating into something more serious. That means getting up close and personal with the enemy.

“I’m Red Air or the Bogey,” Flatman says. “My students usually take the role of the good guy, Blue Air. You pull up behind them and they try and take evasive action. If he fails he knows he’s dead when I tell him on the radio: ‘Fox Two kill.’

“Fox Two signifies that you have fired a heat-seeking missile — an Asraam,” Flatman continues. “Fox Three means you’ve fired a radar-guided missile.

“I’ve got nine instructors and we’ve got six students at any one time,” Flatman says. Belying his “old man” moniker, he is still able to keep pace with the fresh-faced rookies, thanks in part to having had more hours in the air and also by dint of actual combat experience. Starting in 2005 he did two four-month tours in Afghanistan flying the Harrier GR7.

“When we got out there in September 2006 it was incredibly busy and we were dropping ordnance every day in support of coalition troops in Helmand province — a mixture of laser-guided Paveway bombs, unguided 500lb bombs and rockets. It was pretty eye-opening. I did close to 200 hours in theatre [military jargon for a zone where armed forces are operating] — something I’ll never forget.”

Aerial combat, it turns out, is a kind of 3D chess played in the air. During training instructors switch between offence and defence, using tactics that must become hard-wired into students’ brains so they can execute them without thinking. Among the textbook moves are barrel roll attack, high yo-yo, low yo-yo, lag roll, guns defence, defensive spiral, rolling scissors.

When they’ve completed their initial training, Flatman’s fighter pilots test their skills against “enemy” pilots trained in Russian warfare tactics. The jets engage in mock combat over parts of the North Sea that substitute for the Baltic or Black Sea. The bandits are flown by former military and civilian pilots from Draken, the American defence company enlisted by the Ministry of Defence in April as the Ukraine conflict escalated to provide “adversarial support”, a buzz word for role-playing as the enemy, including radar jamming and Russian radio chat. “We make you ready for when it really matters” is a company slogan.

“When it really matters” is now. For years the Russian threat seemed theoretical, taught from Soviet-era textbooks that seemed increasingly out of date. Suddenly history has come rushing back.

In 2012 Britain became the first country outside the US to receive the F-35, and not a moment too soon, says Jim Beck, the former commander of Marham who led the first RAF squadron of F-35s. Russia’s stealth-capable Sukhoi Su-57 came into service late in 2020, upping the combat stakes. The Su-57, codenamed Felon and built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in eastern Russia, is touted as the world’s most capable fifth-generation multirole fighter. Fortunately Russia’s military has so far struggled to put it into service. Of the 16 or so produced, one crashed during a test flight and another suffered a catastrophic engine fire. But that could quickly change. “Russia has a huge desire and intent to use it, both itself [in combat] and to seek privilege and influence through exports. Should things get worse, we need to be able to fight it,” Beck says.

How would a dogfight end? “I have every confidence that come a battle — should it ever happen — the F-35 would be the best place to be,” he says grimly.

Maybe so, but what Russia’s air force lacks in technological sophistication it makes up for in numbers. Its 80 or so Sukhoi Su-25 ground-attack aircraft are currently being used to deadly effect over Ukraine, including bomb and rocket strikes in the Donbas region. The biggest threat to allied pilots is from Sukhoi Su-35s. “They’re not Gen Five but they’re fast, agile and Russia has about 100 of them,” says Justin Bronk, an expert in air power at the Royal United Services Institute. So how do Russia’s pilots stack up against ours? “Generally worse across the board,” Bronk says. “One of the advantages that the RAF and particularly the US air force have always had is that they fly a lot. It takes hours in the air to maintain an edge. RAF frontline pilots get fewer hours than they used to but it’s still 20 to 50 per cent more than the average Russian pilot.”

No one wants to see the two sides’ skills tested in anger, but the threat is growing. In his first speech since becoming chief of the general staff in June, General Sir Patrick Sanders revealed he had issued a stark warning to the troops under his command telling them they must prepare “to fight in Europe once again”. Even if the ramped-up rhetoric is bluff and counterbluff, Finland and Sweden’s bid to join Nato undeniably has raised the stakes. Last month the Ministry of Defence announced that six RAF jets, including two F-35s, had been deployed to Finland and Sweden for joint training exercises.

To date, 27 F-35s have been delivered to British forces from an order of 48 worth £4.2 billion. There’s an option on a further 90 planes. Roughly 15 per cent of the money spent with Lockheed Martin, the US defence contractor, goes to UK aerospace and defence companies, such as Martin Baker, which supplies the ejector seats. Five years ago Marham began a £500 million upgrade ready to receive the planes. Landing pads were installed so the aircraft can touch down vertically. New reinforced concrete bunkers were constructed, runway surfaces were renewed and taxiways refurbished. Nobody foresaw then the threat rising in the east but by happenchance the work was completed just in time.

As they say in the military, combat is often about long periods of preparation interspersed with sudden bursts of activity. The trouble is, no one knows when these will come. On the day I visit there’s a deceptively normal, even low-key, air. Off-duty aircrew and ground staff stroll around the base’s small parade of shops. On Friday nights there’s live sport or music at the Blue Bull Bar. “Hair Force” offers “lady’s and gent’s hair design”, although the main style is over the ears and off the collar. There’s a makeshift running track around the perimeter fence and on a warm summer morning a procession of joggers is pounding through the heat. They have to stay at the peak of physical fitness, not least to withstand G-force during high-speed turns. They maintain their edge by spending intense 80-minute sessions in a flight simulator. Practice flights can easily last four or five hours if the plane is refuelled in the air. The delicate matter of going to the loo, mid-flight, is dealt with in a relatively low-tech fashion. A tube carries waste into a sponge-filled plastic bag, not unlike the arrangement used by astronauts.

Because the F-35 can take off from a carrier, it is able to take the fight to the enemy anywhere in the world — what strategists call the mailed fist. Stew Campbell, a 42-year-old instructor and former detachment commander, recently returned from seven and a half months on the HMS Queen Elizabeth, flying missions over Iraq and Syria.

Many pilots describe a night-time carrier mission as the closest they have come to sheer abject terror. “There’s a moment when you are strapped in the cockpit sitting on an engine with 40,000lb of thrust, looking at the ski jump at the end of the flight deck, awaiting the moment you launch into the pitch black,” one says. “Your heart is pumping. Then you push the throttle and in seconds you’re in a steep climb, already flying at 150mph.”

Campbell recalls: “I vividly remember one night last September with almost no moon and you go off the ski ramp into utter nothingness. You can’t see the sea, you can’t see the sky.” The return is just as nerve-racking, flying out of a black sky towards a black sea. Even if you can make out the carrier’s silhouette, in heavy swell it’s almost impossible to tell which is moving, you or the ship. If you come in too high, you’ll have to do another pass, to the derision of fellow pilots. Too low and you’ll have to be scraped off the deck. “You see a light in the distance, which looks exactly the same as a star. You just have to trust all the instruments.”

Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots start their training straight from school or university. Only those with the quickest reaction times will make it to fast jets. Adam Clink, a former Royal Navy fighter pilot and air warfare instructor, says fast jet pilots are a tribe, with similar personality traits. “Youngsters coming through [to fast jets] are almost invariably outgoing — extroverts who enjoy a quick pace and are good at multitasking.”

To prove themselves, they must be able to fly “blind” with a mask that blocks their view from the cockpit, using only the instruments. They are also required to fly in formation and “tail chase”, only metres from another jet at speeds of 500mph. And they must master low-level flying at 250ft — about the height of an electricity pylon.

During combat training they wear G-suits to prevent blackouts caused by blood pooling in their legs and lower torso. But the pressure from the G-suit when they swerve or dive puts stress on the body. Finally they will learn dogfighting tactics, the most demanding skill of all.

The original Top Gun film portrays flight crews hitting the bar at the end of a mission, and crowding round the piano to sing Great Balls of Fire. When Marham’s pilots graduate the F-35 course, they are let loose in the officer’s mess. According to RAF folklore, an evening of celebration is sometimes followed by a ceremonial torching of the piano, an actual great ball of fire. But the high jinks in jumpsuits are short-lived. The real work is yet to come. Flatman’s crews are handed over to Wing Commander David Tait, commander of 617, the squadron that famously carried out the Dambusters raids.

How much longer will their skills be relevant? Aviation technology is moving at supersonic speed and a new generation of unmanned aircraft is fast approaching. Boeing has spent billions of dollars on its Loyal Wingman project, which will enable future fighter pilots to be accompanied by “slave” aircraft instead of a human wingman. The days of Top Gun’s Maverick and Goose’s bromance may be numbered. In one of the second film’s prescient moments, Ed Harris warns Cruise that he’s an anachronism. Air battles will one day be fought by drones. “The future is coming and you’re not in it,” he snaps. Artificial intelligence will take the place of “the man in the box”, he says.

Tait admits it may eventually happen but it’s not just round the corner. Air defence will rely on human skill and courage for a long time to come, he insists. “If you ask me whether we’re going to have manned fast jets for the next two decades, the answer is “absolutely.”

Source S.T. Magazine.