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F-35As deployed from Hill Air Force Base conduct first combat strike

Posted at 9:22 PM, Apr 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-30 23:22:57-04

SOUTHWEST ASIA — (From U.S. Air Forces Central Command) Two F-35As, deployed to the middle east from the active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings, conducted an air strike at Wadi Ashai, Iraq, in support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve on April 30.

This strike marked the F-35A Lightning IIs first combat mission.

The F-35As conducted the airstrike using a Joint Direct Attack Munition to strike an entrenched Daesh tunnel network and weapons cache deep in the Hamrin Mountains, a location able to threaten friendly forces.

The F-35As, recently deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, joined the Combined Forces Air Component team in the U.S. Central Command area of operations on April 15. In preparation for deployment, crews prepared and trained on the aircraft for the AFCENT mission.