A second F-35A touched down at Nellis AFB, Nev., last week, joining the Air Force Weapons School less than a month after the first Lightning II arrived. “The long-term goal for the F-35 in the Weapons School is for it to completely integrate with all of the other platforms, to bring out its capability, and to add to the capability of the other fighters,” Air Force Warfare Center Commander Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria said in a release. The school will operate a fleet of 24 Lightning IIs, and plans to launch its first full-up weapons course in January 2018. Until then, the school’s F-35s will be engaged training weapons instructors and honing curriculum. The second F-35 arrived at the schoolhouse Feb. 18, according to officials.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
