F-35As and Bs will be flying side-by-side at Red Flag 17-3

Red Flag 17-3 starts today and runs till Jul. 28. For this U.S.-only iteration, the F-35A from the Air Force and F-35B from the Marine Corps will be participating together for the first time.

By Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

According to Col. Ryan Suttlemyre, 33rd Operations Group commander and Red Flag Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander, this “interaction ensures the services are flying with standardized F-35 tactics across the fleet and share best-practices.”

“Because of our interaction at Red Flag, when we start presenting forces and deploying F-35s, planners will understand how to employ these aircraft, regardless of which command they are a part of.”