Marines based here conducted a nighttime aerial refueling exercise Oct. 25-26 to improve operational readiness and enhance pilot proficiency. An F-35B Lightning II aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 based out of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, conducts a nighttime aerial refueling training operation with a KC-130J Hercules aircraft with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Oct. 25, 2017.
US President Donald Trump thinks the F-35 fighter is "pretty cool," but he seems to be a bit confused over what the newest US warplanes have been up to in Japan. In a White House interview with Time magazine published Thursday, Trump said almost three dozen of the stealth jets flew over Japan undetected during a visit to Tokyo by US Defense Secretary James Mattis in February.
A squadron of F-35B Lightning II fighters is headed for Japan to begin the jet's first overseas mission in the Pacific. The stealth aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 departed Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., Monday bound for Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, a Marines Corps statement said Tuesday.