The Israel Air Force declared its F-35 fleet operationally capable on December 6, 2017.

The US Air Force on Tuesday declared its first squadron of F-35As ready for battle.

Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia

U.S. Air Force test pilot, Maj. Raven LeClair, employed an AIM-9X missile from an F-35A's external wing against an aerial drone target in restricted military sea test range airspace

During a recent exercise, F-35 squadrons wanted to practice evading surface-to-air threats. There was just one problem: No one on the ground could track the plane.

The Air Force’s first F-35 squadron has completed all preparations necessary to declare the joint strike fighter combat capable, and sources say an initial operating capability declaration could be made early next week.

​‘It is doing spectacular’, said Carlisle of the F-35A.

As the F-35 makes its international debut in the United Kingdom this week, a top U.S. Air Force general says there are no major hurdles to the service declaring the F-35A operational close to its target date of Aug. 1.

The first off-station deployment exercise for the F-35A Lightning II confirmed that the Air Force’s newest fighter jet is on track to reach initial operational capability later this year.

There are no known technical issues that would prevent declaration of initial operational capability in window starting Aug. 1 and going through Dec.

The F-35A pilots and maintainers from Hill's active duty 388th Fighter Wing and Reserve 419th Fighter Wing will push the aircraft to their limits to simulate deployed operations and ensure the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft are performing as expected.

F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin has been preparing the software load in parallel with the Block 2B configuration that the Marine Corps' first operational F-35B group declared war-ready status with last July.

The Block 3i software provides F-35s with initial warfighting capability on upgraded computer hardware.

The joint program office and F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin identified the root cause, incorporated a fix, and have nearly finished flight tests of an updated software load, JPO chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told reporters on Tuesday.

On March 31 at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, Lockheed Martin's F-35 conducted the first test combining all three solutions designed to reduce the risk of neck injury to F-35 pilots during ejection, according to spokesman Joe DellaVedova.

Thunder’ and ‘Lightning’ strike during joint aerial tests

The Fiscal Year 2015 Selected Acquisition Report (SAR 2015) for the F-35 program demonstrates the continued improvement of the program’s total affordability and reflects increasing confidence by the US Services in the program.

The Navy’s top acquisition official told a key congressional panel Wednesday that “Marines absolutely love this aircraft” and expect to be fielding a new squadron of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in June.

Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing here successfully employed two laser-guided bombs March 3 at a nearby range, advancing the Air Force's F-35A training syllabus ahead of its initial operational capability.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James met with Airmen to gain a better understanding of Luke Air Force Base’s mission with a focus on F-35 Lightning II operations, and its maintenance and training facilities March 9-10.

The Lightning II qualified March 6 at the Heritage Flight Conference at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona to take part in the Air Combat Command Air Force Heritage Flight program.

The weapons drop was originally scheduled for late spring of this year, but innovation and persistence from 33rd FW pilots and maintainers allowed for an earlier launch of the munition

Two F-35A’s teamed up with the 3rd Battalion to provide air support against simulated hostile targets in close proximity to the Rangers.

Airmen from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings dropped laser-guided bombs at the Utah Test and Training Range this week, marking the first time an F-35 combat unit has employed weapons from the F-35A.

Six F-35A of 31st Test Evaluation Squadron have deployed to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho this month for an “operational deployment test” that will clear the way for 10 operational jets from the first combat-coded squadron, which will follow this summer.

The test will help develop the concept of operations as well as validate the aircraft's capability to deploy.

Not only does the F-35’s full-mission simulator provide greater fidelity than previous generations of fighter trainers, it also compensates for the fact it is too expensive to equip every test and training range with the full complement of threats it would be likely to go up against.

F-35 Lightning II aircraft operating at 12 different locations worldwide surpassed the 50,000 flight hour mark this month.

The multinational pilot training centre at Luke AFB in Arizona has grown exponentially since receiving its first Lockheed Martin F-35 in March 2014, and that pace won’t let up in 2016 as the 56th Fighter Wing zips past 3,000 Lightning II sorties.

Pilots can now rehearse and refine advanced tactics in linked simulators.

This milestone was the first in a series of test flights to functionally evaluate the in-flight operation of the F-35A’s internal 25mm gun throughout its employment envelope.

Commander of Air Combat Command Gen. Hawk Carlisle said the F-35 is key to keeping America on top of threats to our national security.