USMC F-35Bs have starting their first training exercise with Japan’s F-35As

A joint exercise between Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps at Misawa air base saw eight F-35Bs from MCAS Iwakuni deployed there to carry out the first drills with Japan’s F-35As.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Elijah Supper, Defense Contract Management Agency government flight representative, taxis an F-35B on the runway at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Nov. 2, 2017. To ensure the jet safely makes it to the United States, Supper stopped at Misawa Air Base, Japan, to undergo safety checks on the aircraft before flying across the ocean. (U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brittany A. Chase)

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AC-130U that sank Iraqi patrol boat during Operation Iraqi Freedom has been retired

AC-130U, # 89-0511, was retired to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan air force base on May 8. The gunship had the honor of being “the first Air Force aircrew and aircraft to sink a maritime combat surface vessel during a war effort since World War II.”

Crew members with the 4th Special Operations Squadron pose in front of AC-130U Spooky gunship tail number 89-0511 at Hurlburt Field, Fla., May 8, 2018. It flew on its final flight to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, known as the aircraft boneyard, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., after 29 years of service. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Rachel Yates)

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