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US to deploy more F-35A multirole fighters in Europe this week

Currently, six F-35As are deployed to Europe as part of a planned training deployment to train alongside US and NATO aircraft stationed in Europe

© AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

WASHINGTON, April 19. /TASS/. The US Air Force plans to deploy more F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighters in Europe in the coming days, US Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff told TASS.

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"Currently, six F-35As are deployed to Europe as part of a planned training deployment to train alongside US and NATO aircraft stationed in Europe," he said.

"A few more F-35As are scheduled to arrive in Europe later this week," the spokesman went on. "The F-35As will remain in Europe for several weeks."

According to the spokesman, this training deployment is aimed at assisting in refining requirements for the future basing of the F-35A at the Royal Air Force base in Lakenheath, England.

The press service of the US Air Force in Europe confirmed that the present deployment will not be limited to the United Kingdom and the aircraft will be deployed at other NATO bases as well.

Commander of US Air Combat Command, General Herbert Carlisle told reporters in February that Washington also planned to deploy these aircraft in the Asia-Pacific Region and in the Middle East in several years.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters designed with nuclear capability in mind. The fifth-generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack and air defense missions. It has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) variant.

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