Tri-Service
US Air Force Declares F-35A Combat Ready
The US Air Force has declared the F-35A Lightning II combat ready.
It follows the country's Marine Corps, which declared the first squadron of its F-35B variant ready for combat in July last year.
General Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command (ACC), said:
"I am proud to announce this powerful new weapons system has achieved initial combat capability. The F-35A will be the most dominant aircraft in our inventory, because it can go where our legacy aircraft cannot and provide the capabilities our commanders need on the modern battlefield."
The US hope the fifth generation fighter aircraft, the latest addition to ACC’s fleet, will provide air superiority and give pilots increased situational awareness of the battlespace. Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the Air Force, said:
"This important milestone for our fighter force ensures the United States, along with our allies and international partners, remains prepared to deter, deny, and defeat the full spectrum of growing threats around the globe."
General David Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, said new capability will benefit the joint warfighter.
"The combat ready F-35A is the latest fifth generation fighter aircraft in the Air Force's inventory and provides our nation [with] air dominance in any environment. The F-35A brings an unprecedented combination of lethality, survivability, and adaptability to joint and combined operations, and is ready to deploy and strike well-defended targets anywhere on Earth."
The 34th Fighter Squadron of the 388th Fighter Wing, based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, will be the service’s first operational F-35A squadron. 34 of its airmen will fly and maintain the F-35A, alongside Air Force reservists from Hill’s 419th Fighter Wing.
Colonel David Smith, 419 FW commander, said:
"It's an honour to fly and maintain the F-35... Our units were the first to fly combat-ready F-16s nearly 40 years ago and we're very proud to have made history once again in bringing the Air Force's newest fighter jet to IOC."
The F-35 is also intended to come into service in the US Navy, Marine Corps and 10 foreign countries including Britain.
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