The U.S. Air Force has declared its F-35A Lightning II fighter jet ‘combat ready,’ marking a major milestone for the controversial aircraft.
(FOX)- The stealth fighter, which has been beset by cost overruns and delays, has a $110 million price tag, making it the most expensive weapon ever built for America’s military.
Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of the Air Combat Command, announced the aircraft’s combat readiness Tuesday. “I am proud to announce this powerful new weapons system has achieved initial combat capability,” he said, in a statement. “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.”
Carlisle said that the aircraft had met all key criteria for reaching initial operational capability. Airmen have been trained, manned and equipped “to conduct basic close air support, interdiction and limited suppression/destruction of enemy air defenses in a contested environment with an operational squadron of 12-24 aircraft,” according to the Air Force’s statement.
All the necessary logistical and operational elements are also in place, and the F-35A has the ability to deploy and conduct operational missions harnessing the program’s weapons and missions systems, the statement explained.