The U.S. Air Force has performed a huge show of strength by launching more than 50 fully-armed Lightning II stealth fighters in a single wave following an elephant walk down the runway.

The 52 F-35A aircrafts, which are worth a whopping $4.2 billion, took off in quick succession from the Hill Air Force Base in Utah on Monday.

The exercise carried out by the active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings showed the Air Force's ability to deploy a large force of the F-35As.

While the exercise has been planned for several months, the execution of it came in the same week the U.S. continues to brace for Iran to respond to the drone strike killing of its most powerful general in Iraq.

The Fighter Wings revealed on Monday that the F-35As have now finally reached full war-fighting capability.

'We're ready to fly, fight, and win,' the 419th Fighter Wings tweeted after the exercise.

They added the exercise 'pushed the boundaries and tested our Airmen's ability to deploy the F-35As en masse'.

The 388th Fight Wingers said: 'The exercise, which was planned for months, demonstrated their ability to employ a large force of F-35As – testing readiness in the areas of personnel accountability, aircraft generation, ground operations, flight operations, and combat capability against air and ground targets.

'A little more than four years after receiving their first combat-coded F-35A Lightning II aircraft, Hill’s fighter wings have achieved full warfighting capability.'

Each F-35A fighter is worth about $89.2 million.

The U.S. received its first F-35A at the Hill Air Force Base four years ago.

Since then, the Fighter Wings have been training pilots, engaging in multiple large combat exercises and supporting two Middle East combat deployments.

'Every training opportunity, exercise and deployment we've completed over the past four years has been a key stepping stone in reaching full warfighting capability,' Col. Steven Behmer, 388th Fighter Wing commander, said.

'This is just the beginning of sustained F-35A combat operations and we will remain focused on staying ready to deploy whenever, wherever we're needed.'

The Air Force deployed its F-35A stealth fighter jets to the Middle East for the first time ever last year.

At least six F-35As from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings left the Hill Air Force Base in April 2019 en route to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

The Air Force said at the time that the fighters would be participating in coalition air operations targeting ISIS militants.

While they were the first U.S. Air Force-operated F35As to enter to Middle East, they weren't new to the region with Israel already operating 12 of the jets.

The model is billed as the most advanced military aircraft ever sent into the skies.

The Air Force has previously boasted that the jet 'improves lethality, survivability and adaptability against emerging threats in order to maintain air superiority'.

The F-35A is the conventional takeoff and landing variant version of the jet, and the first of the three versions to enter full service.

The F-35B, which is capable of vertical take-off and landing, only recently entered service.

Meanwhile the F-35C, which specializes in aircraft carrier operations, has consistently fallen behind in testing.

The F-35 is the first to combine radar-evading stealth technology with supersonic speeds and the ability to conduct short take-offs and vertical landings.

It has the ability to operate from land and sea and has previously been hailed as a huge leap forward in aerospace technology.

The Fighter Wings on Monday insisted that the training exercise was not a result of heightened tensions with Iran following the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force.

Esmail Ghaani, the general who replaced Qassem Soleimani after he was killed, has since vowed to take revenge as part of the fallout over the U.S. strike.

austinsmat:
Wise decision Iran avoid this war.

DaBullIT:



Iran has her allies


If USA should over do it won't be USA vs Iran alone



That's why people are mentioning World War


Russia, NK, China, and a host of others are allies to Iran and these 3 major countries, super powers as well do not really like USA

DaBullIT:



Iran has her allies


If USA should over do it won't be USA vs Iran alone



That's why people are mentioning World War


Russia, NK, China, and a host of others are allies to Iran and these 3 major countries, super powers as well do not really like USA



Russia / Putin has not been able to hide their beef for trump, going has far as sabotaging US elections


China is in economic war with USA


North Korea may have had a sit down with Trump, doesn't mean kid Jun hm or whatever the clown is called will not support ìtàn

Davash222:

So, US don’t have allies also??

proxillin:


oga China is not ally of Iran..get your fact right...

proxillin:


oga China is not ally of Iran..get your fact right...

DaBullIT:



Iran has her allies


If USA should over do it won't be USA vs Iran alone



That's why people are mentioning World War


Russia, NK, China, and a host of others are allies to Iran and these 3 major countries, super powers as well do not really like USA



Russia / Putin has not been able to hide their beef for trump, going has far as sabotaging US elections


China is in economic war with USA


North Korea may have had a sit down with Trump, doesn't mean kid Jun hm or whatever the clown is called will not support ìtàn

DaBullIT:



Iran has her allies


If USA should over do it won't be USA vs Iran alone



That's why people are mentioning World War


Russia, NK, China, and a host of others are allies to Iran and these 3 major countries, super powers as well do not really like USA



Russia / Putin has not been able to hide their beef for trump, going has far as sabotaging US elections


China is in economic war with USA


North Korea may have had a sit down with Trump, doesn't mean kid Jun hm or whatever the clown is called will not support ìtàn

DaBullIT:



That's not what I meant, I'm trying to say iran has some super power friends, all those assuming iran will be obliterated should know USA will feel the heat too

PointZerom:


Keep giving yourself false hope. You think Iran has more allies than the US.

DaBullIT:



Iran has her allies


If USA should over do it won't be USA vs Iran alone



That's why people are mentioning World War


Russia, NK, China, and a host of others are allies to Iran and these 3 major countries, super powers as well do not really like USA



Russia / Putin has not been able to hide their beef for trump, going has far as sabotaging US elections


China is in economic war with USA


North Korea may have had a sit down with Trump, doesn't mean kid Jun hm or whatever the clown is called will not support ìtàn

austinsmat:
still my wise decision, will the war fight at allies background? Iran will be battle ground where new nukes will be tested, China and Russia may support, it still reman that Iran will be testing ground for both world powers.

Occulticmonster:
[s][/s]

Astark:
Nigerians too mumu sha displaying their foolishness online, they said iran has China, Russia, north Korea as allies.

America military budget is bigger than north Korea and iran GDP combined. Russia and China will never support iran infact why should they? USA is helping China developed their technology and Russia is still part of NATO.

Media before this all war started were saying trump and macron are enemies, when the threat came macron and France stood with USA.

Let iran make any silly move and see the European countries(Germany, France,uk) and Japan Saudi Arabia and co support USA with their mighty.

I pity iran because even their neighbouring countries hate them, Shia Muslims

maynation:


I'm actually not in for a debate but why are you sounding like USA got no allies too? USA alone is like a combination of '3-5 countries' (I hope you understood what i meant here?) let alone having Isreal, France, UK and co as allies.

jumper524:
Russia ain't part of NATO and america ain't helping china develop technology..