F-35A Stealth Fighters Just Dropped Bombs in Combat for the First Time

David Axe

Security,

The air strike targeting Islamic State militants in Wadi Ashai, Iraq, is an important milestone for the long-in-development F-35, which still suffers low reliability.

U.S. Air Force F-35A stealth fighters on April 30, 2019 dropped bombs in combat for the first time.

The air strike targeting Islamic State militants in Wadi Ashai, Iraq, is an important milestone for the long-in-development F-35, which still suffers low reliability.

“The F-35As conducted the airstrike using a Joint Direct Attack Munition to strike an entrenched [ISIS] tunnel network and weapons cache deep in the Hamrin Mountains, a location able to threaten friendly forces,” the Air Force stated.

At least six F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings on April 12, 2019 traveled from their home station at Hill Air Force Base in Utah to Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates to participate in coalition air operations.

"We are adding a cutting-edge weapons system to our arsenal that significantly enhances the capability of the coalition," said Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command. "The sensor fusion and survivability this aircraft provides to the joint force will enhance security and stability across the theater and deter aggressors."

Air Force F-35As in April 2017 deployed to Royal Air Force base Lakenheath. USAF F-35As that fall also deployed to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. The Middle East deployment is the USAF stealth fighter's first to a war zone.

The F-35s could fill the gap that the Air Force's F-22 Raptors left when in February 2019 they departed the Middle East after five years of continuous operations. Older, non-stealthy F-15C fighters stood in for the radar-evading F-22s as the Pentagon's main air-superiority fighters in the region.