US Marine Corps and three US defense officials confirmed that the US military's F-35B joint strike fighter conducted its first-ever airstrike today. Taking off from the from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship. The target was Taliban and the airstrike took place in Afghanistan.
The Marines confirmed the strike in a statement:
"During this mission the F-35B conducted an air strike in support of ground clearance operations, and the strike was deemed successful by the ground force commander."
F-35 FUN FACTS
- The F-35B is one of three variants of the F-35 aircraft and the only one with the ability to land vertically like a helicopter.
- Each plane costs around $100 million dollars
- F-35A- $94.3 million
- F-35B- $122.4 million
- F-35C- $121.2 million
- Lockheed Martin’s goal is to reduce the cost of an F-35A to $80 million by 2020.