The U.S. Air Force has conducted an exercise that tested a Lockheed Martin-built fighter aircraft’s capacity against advanced aggressor aircraft and simulated threats at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
According to a report published Monday, the service branch’s airmen utilized 13 F-35A aircraft during the Red Flag exercise and noted that the variant recorded a 20-to-1 kill ratio and maintenance rate.
Tech Sgt. Robert James, a member of the Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II Heritage Flight Team within the 56th Fighter Wing, said the aircraft offers airmen a platform that can provide maintainer information which helps perform missions at a faster rate.
Maj. James Schmidt, a former A-10 pilot, noted the aircraft offered a capacity for airmen to fly right into the heart of a threat and return after strikes throughout multiple sorties.
“I flew a mission the other day where our four-ship formation of F-35As destroyed five surface-to-air threats in a 15-minute period without being targeted once,” added Schmidt.
