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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet will drop weapons and take part in a major U.S. military exercise this week for the first time, another milestone for the Pentagon’s largest weapons program, Air Force officials said Monday.

The exercise, called “Green Flag West,” tests the U.S. military’s ability to engage in air-to-surface conflicts and helps get ground troops who pinpoint potential air strikes ready for combat.

Several F-35 A-model jets, along with a host of other warplanes and other weapons, will participate in the exercises.

via Lockheed F-35s get first role in major military exercise – Yahoo News.

Green Flag West is pretty much the big leagues of Air Force training evolutions.  Of course, the Air Force isn’t looking really for the F-35s to win everything, everywhere. They’re really just starting to explore how to use the F-35 operationally, and especially in conjunction with other assets. Lord knows we’re critical of the program, but the Air Force’s A model is, we hope, likely to become a reasonable successor to the F-16 as the backbone of the light strike mission.