*WASHINGTON – American F-35 stealth fighters have been used in a combatoperation for the first time, officials said, marking a major milestone forthe most expensive plane in history.*
Thursday’s mission took place against Taliban targets in Afghanistan’sKandahar province, when the F-35s flew from the USS Essex amphibiousassault ship.
The planes deployed were the F-35B variant, used by the Marine Corps andcapable of taking off from a short runway and landing vertically. The AirForce and Navy have their own models.
“During this mission, the F-35B conducted an air strike in support ofground clearance operations, and the strike was deemed successful by theground force commander,” US Naval Forces Central Command said in astatement.
Officials did not say how many planes took part in the operation, but theF-35 flies in pairs or larger groups.
Israel — one of the F-35 program’s partner nations — said in May that ithad used its newly acquired F-35s in combat operations, becoming the firstcountry to do so.
Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 is considered the most expensiveweapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400 billionand a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years.
Read Top Stories
Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over theaircraft’s lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected torise to $1.5 trillion.
Proponents tout the F-35’s radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonicspeeds, close air support capabilities, airborne agility and a massivearray of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.
But the program has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and setbacks,including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders totemporarily ground the planes.
So far, the US military has taken delivery of 245 F-35s, most of them tothe Air Force. –
