The first appearance by operational US Air Force F-35As in the recent ‘Red Flag’ exercise marked another major milestone in the Lightning II program.
FRESH FROM ACHIEVING initial operational capability in August last year, and with the promise of forthcoming Theater Security Package (TSP) deployments to the Pacific and Europe, US Air Force F-35As made their debut at ‘Red Flag 17‑1’ in January and February. It was the first large-scale exercise for the USAF’s newest fighter and served as a baptism of fire for both pilots and maintainers alike.
Roughly 200 personnel from the 388th Fighter Wing and its Reserve component, the 419th Fighter Wing, from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, brought 13 F-35As to Nellis AFB, Nevada for the three-week exercise. The F-35’s ability to gather, fuse and share the information from its highly advanced on-board sensors appears to have served it well during the exercise, with impressive ‘kill’ ratios being reported.
Lt Col George ‘Banzai’ Watkins, 34th Fighter Squadron commander, said flying the Lightning II in the simulated high-end combat missions at ‘Red Flag’ ‘feels like air dominance’. He added: ‘You just don’t have all of that information at once in fourth-generation platfo…
