The fighter wing is the third ANG unit to transition to the fifth-generation fighter, which will replace the F-16 Viper. The post Alabama Air National Guard Unit Receives 3 F-35s appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

An Alabama Air National Guard unit has received three F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, becoming the third ANG unit to transition to the aircraft.

The 187th Fighter Wing, based at Dannelly Field, Alabama, is to receive a total of 20 F-35s within the next five years, replacing the F-16 Viper that was divested at the wing last year.

The Air Force announced in 2020 that the Vermont Air National Guard�s 158th Fighter Wing and the Wisconsin Air National Guard�s 115th Fighter Wing would also be transitioning to the F-35, along with an Air Force Reserve unit located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas.

�The F-35 changes the role that the 187th serves in the United States� application of air power,� said Major Bart Smith, a 187th Fighter Wing weapons instructor. �I�ve had the opportunity to experience the awesome capabilities that the F-35A brings to the joint fight. What truly separates the 187th apart will never be the aircraft, but the airmen that equip, maintain, and fly it.�

The unit�s 33 core aircraft maintainers have spent years training for the aircraft�s arrival, according to its leadership.

�They are highly skilled, highly trained maintainers that dedicated years of their lives and moved from Alabama to embed with F-35 Guard or active-duty units to learn best practices,� said Captain Bryon Townsend, 187th Fighter Maintenance Group�s director of operations.�

The post Alabama Air National Guard Unit Receives 3 F-35s appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

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