F-35 Dead: In 2017, America's Top Stealth Fighter Was 'Killed' in a Wargame

Dario Leone

Security, Americas

Shocking.

Because of the aircraft’s increased capability, exercise planners have increased the complexity of the scenarios for the “Blue Air” players.

After eight days “at war” the F-35A Lightning II is proving to be an invaluable asset during Red Flag 17-01, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) premier air combat exercise held at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada.

The F-35A is a fifth-generation, multi-role stealth fighter designed to gather, fuse, and distribute more information than any other fighter in history.

Lt. Col George Watkins, an F-35 pilot and 34th Fighter Squadron commander, said flying the F-35A in combat “feels like air dominance.”

“I’ve had four of my (F-35A) pilots come back from missions, guys who have flown the F-15 and F-16 at Red Flag for years, and tell me ‘This is amazing. I’ve never had this much situational awareness while I’m in the air. I know who’s who, I know who’s being threatened, and I know where I need to go next.’ You just don’t have all of that information at once in fourth-generation platform,” Watkins said.

Pilots and maintainers from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill AFB, Utah, deployed the F-35A Lightning II at Nellis AFB Jan. 20 and began flying in the exercise Jan. 23.