Carlisle ready to send F-35A into combat this year

Commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle, told reporters in Washington that he is ready to send the F-35A into combat this year once the jet achieved Initial Operating Capability.

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Photo: U.S. Air Force

“The minute I declare initial operational capability, if the combatant commander calls me up and says they needed F-35s, I would send them.”

Carlisle added that he will send the stealth jets on no-notice deployments to Europe and the Pacific in the next 12 months.