US Air Force uses the F-35A in combat for the first time against ISIS.

A F-35A Lightning II. UPI/US Air Force handout.

The US Air Force has used the F-35A in combat for the first time in a mission targeted ISIS holdouts in Iraq. UPI. The two F-35A's were used to target an ISIS tunnel complex and weapons cache. The Marines used the short take off variant, the F-35B in combat last year in Afghanistan. The F-35 has come under criticism for overspending and inefficiency. 

My Comment:

Just a quick post to acknowledge that the Air Force has finally used the F-35A in it's primary role as a strike fighter. It doesn't seem to have been a mission that the F-15 or F-16 couldn't have accomplished but it is good that we are finally using these planes. 

The actual mission itself is fairly standard. An ISIS cave and weapons cache isn't a hugely important target, especially considering how ISIS has largely been destroyed. It's a mission that had to be done for sure, but it's only notable because it was the first strike the F-35A did. 

I still think that the F-35 is a huge waste of money. It's not anywhere as good as the F-22 in terms of dog fighting and both the F-15 and F-16 are better bomb trucks. It doesn't do anything great but it is a jack of all trades. If we hadn't ordered a billion of them they would be ok I guess, but they are the backbone of our armed forces now.