F-35s have returned to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, for two weeks of training in a deployed setting. The F-35s, assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., arrived at the Idaho base on Sept. 10 and will “practice identifying ground radar sites, which is a capability that Luke doesn’t have,” 366th Fighter Wing spokesman TSgt. Joe Woolston told Air Force Magazine. The aircraft will return to Luke on Sept. 24. Mountain Home was the site for the major deployment test for F-35s, when seven of the jets deployed from Hill AFB, Utah, to the Idaho base for two weeks in June to prove the aircraft can fight in a deployment setting.
The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…