The U.K. Sends Its F-35s To Fly Their First Operational Missions Over Syria

📹 🛫 History has been made over the last week as UK F-35s have completed their first operational missions over Iraq and Syria #F35UK @RoyalAirForce @RoyalNavy https://t.co/40p34lErUc pic.twitter.com/ajOtKzPUTb

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 25, 2019

Warzone/The Drive: The United Kingdom Becomes The Third Country To Send F-35s Into Combat

RAF Joint Strike Fighters flying from Cyprus have been zipping around Syria and Iraq for more than a week already.

The U.K. Ministry of Defense says that Royal Air Force F-35B Joint Strike Fighters have been flying combat patrols over Iraq and Syria for more than a week. This is a major milestone for Britain's stealthy fighter jets, which only reached initial operational capability in January 2019.

A pair of F-35Bs, also known by their formal nickname Lightning II, from the RAF's 617 Squadron, flying from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, conducted the first combat patrol over Syria on June 16, 2019, according to an official statement. The detachment of six Joint Strike Fighters in Cyprus has since flown a combined total of 12 sorties over both Syria and Iraq. The jets have been at Akrotiri since April 2019 and conducted Exercise Lightning Dawn the following month as a workup to actual combat missions. The United Kingdom is now the third country to deploy its F-35s for combat, after Israel and the United States.

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More News On The U.K. Sending Its F-35s To Fly Their First Operational Missions Over Syria

Struck by Lightnings! RAF's new hi-tech, £9billion jets complete their first missions across Syria and Iraq -- Daily Mail
UK stealth fighter jets join fight against Islamic State -- BBC
UK’s newest F-35B combat aircraft successfully completed its first operational missions -- Defence Blog
RAF's new F35 jets fly operational missions for first time with sorties against Islamic State -- SKY News
Britain's new F35 stealth jets used on operations for the first time -- The Telegraph
British F-35Bs Complete First Operational Missions -- Forces Network

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