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F-35B fighter jets of the US Marines flew over 100 combat sorties against the Taliban and ISIS while deployed aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, Lt. Col. Kyle Shoop, commander of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, told Task & Purpose.
“We overall supported more than 50 days of combat flying for over 1,200 flight hours,” Shoop stressed. “We supported both Operation Freedom’s Sentinel up in the Afghanistan region as well as Operation Inherent Resolve over Syria/Iraq. We employed ordnance in both theaters on numerous days.”
“Every single one of the pilots employed ordnance in theater. So, we were very busy.”
According to Shoop, the F-35B squadron flew close air support missions over Afghanistan and Syria. He pointed out that in Syria the F-35B helped assess the damage done by coalition airstrikes in bad weather because its radar is better than the F/A-18 Hornet’s one. Shoop continued by saying that neither Syrian or Russian air defenses attempted to engage F-35B jets.
“We would see Russian airplanes airborne as well as Syrian, but everyone maintained their lines of de-confliction that were set up prior,” he said.
The F-35B was for for the first time employed in real combat in September 2018 when it targeted a Taliban weapons cache in Afghanistan. Now, it seems that the US military is expanding the F-35 involvement in its operations.
Hah they were so successful that US must negotiate with Taliban. Didn’t understand, have they bombed in Syria or just used radar to target for other bombers?
dream on, the talibans won’t have to negotiate anything with the dumb dunces from the most moronic states. the talibans control about 60 to 70 per cent of the land while the dunces are hunkered down in the ‘urban’ areas and the talibans know this and the dunces know this so the dunces are just putting up pretense and trying to wriggle the hell out of there which isn’t all that easy considering that uzbekistan and the other stan-countries will require payment for anything the dunces wish to take out and then it’s a question if irans chabahar port will be operational but the dunces made that city into an exception when they imposed sanctions on iran since chabahar is the port from where most american ordinances were once landed and transported. bet the dunces are hard at work trying to find a way out and home to mum and apple-pie!
It wasnt written as that. Its a military statement telling that the jet seemes to work. According to, what we have heard of failures and the price pr unit, its about that.
The Jet seems to work…against a no threat enemy…your about as idiotic as the Yanks themselves
Thats right. Thats exact what I wrote: So far so good. They now fx know, they dont fall down and missiles and bombs can be fired from them.
Should they attack S400s in Syria testing in stead ?
sounds to me that kyle shoop is searching for the nearest lamppost with his name on it! 100 sorties over what period of time and how many planes employed – seems to me the morons from the most moronic states is trying to make things better than they really are – f35s, flying lemons!
Much like You have eaten too many lemons Yourself. They arekind of testeing and so far has no problems.
Thats what he tells.
Of course these flying lemons can attack the Taliban targets… There is no opposition… Now if these POS “fighters” had to be used against targets that can actually fight back, it would be a different story!
you’re a fully fledged nincompooooop
An honor to be told that by You. It says I am partly right.
Against ‘ISIS’, term “combat” has broad definition, suspect many of the “combat missions” are fly-by type missions counted here for sales purposes.
The F-35B variant, of the much vaunted US-Lockheed stealth project, has apparently successfully flown missions over Afghanistan, against the Taliban, a third world ground-based Islamist militia, without any SAM systems or an actual air force. That stealthy low radar signature proved incredibly effective – against no actual radar systems. This Marine aviation announcement is the equivalent of a participation award for the kid that ran last place.
Well, they try to prove a point that worlds most expensive weapon platform can do something other than sucking money out of taxpayers. If they would give us the total cost of those 1200 flying hours vs actual achieved military objectives that would be very telling.
Some organization is going out of its way to promote the F-35.
Guess approaching Marine aviation’s annual budget review…
F-35B JETS FLEW OVER 100 COMBAT SORTIES AGAINST TALIBAN AND ISIS: U.S. MARINES
Performed exceptionally well against a foe that neither had Radars, SAM’s or Interceptors…
U.S. still having lost within those conflicts though!
I bet the Taliban never saw the Marines coming either. I guess in the mind of the Marines that is proof that their aircraft are invisible.
The mind of a Marine is warped on drugs and alcohol and lust.
If they believe the planes are invisible, why wont they chance a fly over Moscow to drop some leaflets that (liberation is coming) lol
The minds of Marines need not be warped on alcohol – thats giving these 5 IQ monkeys way too much credit
“Every single one of the pilots employed ordnance in theater. So, we were very busy.”
That is the reason the US kills so many innocent women and children.
It’s considered cowardly not to drop your bombs, even if you can’t locate the target, so they kill anything that moves.
Australian pilots in Iraq were condemned by the Americans, if they returned to base with munitions.
And now they’re going to be used to help the Taliban beat out the other 2 opposition groups operating in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and Isis.
Even though these 3 groups are all born of the same ideology, they’re all fighting one another at the same time they’re fighting the US and the Afghanistan governments.
But the Taliban has won favour with the US now, and the US is about to stop bombing the them and instead just bomb Al Qaeda and Isis, to actually help the Taliban beat Al Qaeda and Isis, allowing the Taliban to become the only unopposed opposition group in Afghanistan.
Sounds like crazy talk doesn’t it, but it must makes sense to someone, because that’s what’s about to start happening. Politics means no true alliances, just convenient associations.
The Taliban is about to transition from a designated terrorist group into legitimate political opposition party soon, with the US’s help, it’s so marvelous the US can so easily redeem organizations like the Taliban and deal with them like they do, one minute a terrorist and the next minute they’re your friends, such a forgiving bunch aren’t they. I wonder how that’s going to work out, not well for the Afghanistan government probably, or the Afghani people.
Busy indeed. I guess they have to train the crews to fly the F35 on combat missions on a rotation basis and bombing at least civilian targets effectively.