After a long and difficult endeavor, the land-based variant of the F-35 has been declared combat ready by the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command (ACC) on Aug. 2.
By U.S. Air Force photo by Jim Haseltine [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“I am proud to announce this powerful new weapons system has achieved initial combat capability,” head of ACC Gen. Hawk Carlisle said. “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 34th Fighter Squadron of the 388th Fighter Wing is the first unit to be declared operational.