Behind the scenes with the British pilots learning to fly F-35 fighter jet which absorbs radar, flies backwards...and costs a cool £100m

These photos show how British pilots are putting a £100million fighter jet through its paces ahead of its first appearance in British skies this summer.

The first of the UK's F-35s – dubbed the Lightning II by maker Lockheed Martin – are at a giant military airfield in Florida’s Panhandle region, where pilots are practicing flying them backwards, stopping them in mid-air and reaching top speeds of 1.6 times the speed of sound.

The Daily Mail was invited for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes visit at the Eglin Air Force Base to find out how the first three British flyers and their 13 engineers are learning how to operate the F-35, which is recognisable by its sharp-angled design and special coating which makes it hard for enemy radars to detect.

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