US Air Force declares F-35A fighter jet 'combat ready'

August 03, 2016 00:25

The US Air Force today declared an initial squadron of F-35A stealth fighters as ready for combat, a major milestone for the futuristic aircraft dogged by delays and cost overruns.

The squadron of about 12 planes is based at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and the planes' combat rating -- known as initial operational capability -- comes after completion of a raft of tests and training exercises.

"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," said General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, who heads the US Air Combat Command.

Air Force officials did not give a timeline of when the squadron might see combat, but said an overseas deployment is likely by early 2017.

"This is just the beginning, this is an interim step that will get us to what the full combat capability of the F-35 eventually will be," Carlisle said.

The US Marine Corps last year announced that an initial group of F-35Bs had attained initial operational capability, though these have not yet been used in combat.

With a price tag of nearly $400 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most destined for the Air Force -- the plane, built by Lockheed Martin, is the most expensive in history.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Priya's Simple, Stylish Avatars

When in doubt, she embraces a wardrobe that's part cool, part modern.

Stoinis still keen to represent Australia despite loss of central contract

Marcus Stoinis' desire to keep playing international cricket beyond the T20 World Cup in June has not been diminished by Cricket Australia's decision to drop him from the central contracts list, the all-rounder said.

Take The '80s Bollywood Quiz

Sukanya Verma quizzes you to find out just how much you know about the movies.

'Robert Vadra ab ki baar' posters in Amethi amid suspense

Smriti Irani took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi and his brother-in-law suggesting that Vadra has an eye on the constituency.

RBI holds back US dollar sales in February amid pressure on rupee

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) abstained from selling any US dollars throughout February, for the first time in nine months. The decision comes amid increasing pressure on the rupee, as expectations of rate cuts by the US Federal...