A new fighter aircraft to which the Ministry of Defence is committed has been ruled out of appearing at the Farnborough air show. A grounding of the F-35 by the Americans following an engine fire in Florida last month meant the combat aircraft was unable to arrive for the start of the seven-day Farnborough show yesterday.

Although the grounding has now been lifted, restrictions placed on flights means that the F-35 will not be able to fly over from the USA for any part of the show in Hampshire which ends on Sunday. The grounding meant that the F-35 was unable to appear when the Queen officially named the Royal Navy's newest, and biggest, aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth earlier this month.

An appearance by the F-35 at last weekend's military tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire was also ruled out, although hopes remained that the aircraft could still arrive for some part of the Farnborough show. The US Pentagon's press secretary, Navy Rear Admiral. John Kirby, said it was a "difficult decision" to cancel the hoped-for participation at Farnborough, but the Pentagon remained confident that any of the plane's technical issues can be fixed.

"While we're disappointed that we're not going to be able to participate in the air show, we remain fully committed to the programme itself and look forward to future opportunities to showcase its capabilities to allies and to partners," he said.