The USAF’s 33rd Fighter Wing (FW)
welcomed the rst F-35As to Eglin AFB in
July 2011 and 58th Fighter Squadron (FS)
was declared ready for training (RFT) in
December 2012. The squadron reached its
full complement of 26 ghters in May 2014,
and currently operates 25 ghters. The 58th
FS is primarily tasked with producing new
F-35A pilots for the USAF, but also provides
training for instructor and test pilots.
The 56th FW’s 61st FS at Luke AFB
received its rst F-35A in March 2014;
training began in May 2015 and the squadron
achieved FOC the following month. The
62nd FS and 63rd FS, respectively, began
receiving F-35As in August 2015 and March
- Serving as the primary training base for
US and international F-35A training, Luke will
host six squadrons and 144 ghters by 2024.
Courses include transition, re-quali cation
and instructor pilots’ upgrade training.
At Nellis AFB, Nevada, the 53rd Wing’s
422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron is
tasked with conducting operational testing
and developing air-to-air and air-to ground
tactics. The USAF Weapons School’s 6th
Weapons Squadron (WPS) assumed the
responsibility for the F-35As originally
delivered to the 16th WPS on its activation on
June 20, 2017. It provides advanced tactics
instruction and its rst weapons instructor
course began in January 2018. The squadron
will have 30 instructor pilots and 24 Lightning
IIs assigned by 2023.
In December 2013, the Vermont Air
National Guard’s 158th FW was selected
as the rst ANG unit to receive the F-35A.
Eielson AFB, Alaska, was selected in August
2014 as the bed-down base for 48 Lightning
IIs and, in January 2015, RAF Lakenheath,
Suffolk, was named as the rst location
in Europe. It will also receive 48 F-35As,
beginning in 2020. Vermont’s 134th FS will
receive its rst F-35A in late 2019 and Eielson
will follow in 2020. The rst F-35As for the
388th FW’s 34th FS arrived at Hill AFB, Utah,
on September 2, 2015 and the wing along
with the Air Force Reserve Command’s 419th
FW achieved IOC with Block 3I software on
August 16, 2016. Deliveries to the 4th FS
at Hill began that September and the 421st
FS is expected to receive its rst aircraft in
December 2018. The 388th will receive its full
complement of 78 F-35As in 2019.
The 34th FS began its rst international
training deployment when it sent eight
F-35As to RAF Lakenheath in April 2017.
With support from the 419th FW’s 466th FS
the 34th later deployed 12 F-35As to Kadena
Air Base, Japan, in support of the US Paci c
Command’s theater security package (TSP)
programme in November 2017. Concluding in
May 2018, the deployment marked the rst
operational tasking for the F-35A.
The USAF announced the selection of
NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base as the
rst AFRC base to host the F-35A in January- The 301st FW’s 457th FS will accept its
rst F-35As in the mid-2020s.
In December 2017, selection was
announced of the 115th FW at Dane
County Regional Airport-Truax Field in
Madison, Wisconsin, and the 187th FW
at Montgomery Regional Airport-Dannelly
Field, Alabama, as the preferred locations for
the next two ANG F-35A bases. Deliveries
should begin in 2023.
The rst production F-35Bs were delivered
to VMFAT-501 at Eglin AFB in January 2012.
Training was initially conducted at Eglin,
but the squadron completed a move to
MCAS Beaufort, in October 2014. The rst
operational F-35B was delivered to Marine
strike ghter squadron VMFA-121 at MCAS
Yuma, Arizona, in November 2012 and the
squadron achieved IOC with the Block 2B
version on July 31, 2015. The relocation of
the ‘Green Knights’ to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan,
began in January 2017 and VMFA-121
received its full complement of 16 F-35Bs
that November. On March 5, 2018 six of the
squadron’s F-35Bs embarked aboard the
amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1)
at the start of the Lightning II’s rst Marine
Expeditionary Unit (MEU) deployment.
VMFA-211 became the second USMC
front-line squadron to transition to the F-35B
in May 2016. The ‘Wake Island Avengers’
conducted carrier quali cations aboard
the amphibious assault ship USS Essex
(LHD-2) in October 2017 and began its rst
deployment as part of the 13th MEU. The
deployment, to the US Central Command/
US 5th Fleet area of operations, marked the
rst for the F-35B with the Block 3F software
and the rst to a combat zone. The squadron
achieved another milestone on September
27, 2018 when two F-35Bs carried out
the aircraft’s rst combat missions over
Afghanistan.
The VMFA-122 ‘Flying Leathernecks’
began its conversion from the F/A-18C to the
F-35B in October 2017 and relocated from
MCAS Beaufort to MCAS Yuma. The third
operational Lightning II squadron conducted
its rst F-35B sorties at MCAS Yuma on
March 29, 2018.
Activated in 2012, strike ghter squadron
VFA-101 stood up as the US Navy’s rst
Lightning II squadron at Eglin AFB and
received its rst F-35C on June 22, 2013.
Known as the ‘Grim Reapers’, the Fleet
Replacement Squadron (FRS) is now
primarily tasked with training instructor pilots.
A second FRS stood up when VFA-125 was
reactivated at NAS Lemoore, California, on
January 12, 2017. It was recently revealed
that VFA-101 will be inactivated on July 1,http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 37
An F-35B belonging to VX-23 departs from HMS Queen Elizabeth during recent trials off the US
East Coast. Lockheed MartinThe USMC’s rst operational F-35Bs were delivered to MCAS
Yuma-based VMFA-121 during November 2012, reaching
initial operating capability in July 2015. Lockheed Martin