F-35C conducts first air strike against Houthis, all three F-35 variants engaged in real combat

On November 16, 2024, US defense officials confirmed on Wednesday that the carrier variant of the F-35 stealth fighter participated in airstrikes against the Houthi rebels, marking the first combat mission for the F-35C. With this operation, all three variants of the F-35 series have now been involved in combat.

The Pentagon had earlier announced that the F-35C took part in airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen and released footage of two aircraft taking off from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier (watch the video

here

).

A US defense official stated that this mission was the first combat flight for the F-35C, signifying that all three variants of the F-35 are now deployed in warfare.

The F-35 Lightning II is a single-engine multirole stealth combat aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation. It has three variants: F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C. The Air Force operates the A variant, while the Marine Corps and Navy operate the other two.

The A and B variants of the F-35 have participated in combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq in the late 2010s, but the carrier-based F-35C (with a price tag of up to $102 million) had not been used in actual combat until now.

In May 2018, the Israeli Air Force’s F-35I (Israeli version of the F-35A) conducted airstrikes in Syria, marking the first combat mission for the F-35 aircraft.

The first combat mission for the US military’s F-35B was against the Taliban in September 2018. The following year, the F-35A was used for US combat missions against ISIS.

The F-35C aboard the Lincoln aircraft carrier belongs to the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314. The carrier air wing also includes squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18 Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

The USS Carl Vinson is the only US aircraft carrier equipped with F-35C aircraft. The F-35C has not been sold to US allies, though some allies have deployed the A and B variants.

Pentagon Press Secretary and Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder informed reporters that the F-35C participated in airstrikes on November 9th and 10th against Houthi weapon storage facilities. Over the past year, Iran-backed rebels have frequently used missiles and drones to attack military and civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

It is currently unknown what munitions were used by the F-35C in this combat mission. The aircraft is capable of carrying precision-guided bombs, beyond-visual-range weapons, and air-to-air missiles.

(Information referenced from Business Insider)