A fighter unit F-35A and Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force is participating, throughout March, in a broad integration and training activity with the United States Air Force at Hill Air Force Base, in the state of Utah.
The operation is part of the exercise Lightning Forgecarried out in conjunction with aircraft from the 388th Fighter Wing.
The main objective of the mission is to increase combat readiness in a realistic and contested environment, with an emphasis on integration between NATO allies. In addition to the fighters, the mobilization includes support teams from the Dutch force’s Combat Air Command.
According to the lieutenant colonel known by the call sign “Swinger”, commander of 313 Squadron, training in Utah offers conditions that are very different from the operational reality in the Netherlands. He highlighted that the vast area of the Utah Test and Training Range allows training in a more demanding scenario, with simulated threats and complex missions in close cooperation with North American partners.
According to the official, both the 388th Fighter Wing and the Dutch squadron are considered cutting-edge units in their respective air forces, often deployed on the front lines of combat operations. Therefore, the choice of Hill Air Force Base was seen as strategic for exchanging experiences and best practices.
The exercise also marks the largest mobilization ever carried out by the Dutch air force with F-35 aircraft. Throughout the month, the detachment has been sustaining two lines of sorties per day, employing real and inert weapons, while testing maintenance capacity with a reduced number of aircraft.
The high operational tempo was planned as a direct challenge to the unit’s ability to maintain aircraft and crews ready in a highly demanding scenario. The proposal is to assess not only the availability of fighters, but also the preparation of the personnel and logistical resources necessary to sustain intense operations for a long period.
The activity also plays an important role in training less experienced pilots. For many of them, this is their first participation in an exercise of this scale and intensity. The Dutch command’s expectation is that, at the end of the mission, these soldiers will return to the country with greater confidence in both the aircraft and their own skills.
Another central point of the training is the use of the Utah Test and Training Range, considered one of the main training grounds in the United States. The airframe includes advanced threat emitters and realistic targets, allowing pilots to further explore the F-35’s capabilities in an environment that simulates modern threats more faithfully than would be possible on Dutch soil.
According to the commander of 313 Squadronthe training camp punishes tactical errors in a realistic way, which transforms the exercise into both a confidence factor and a concrete check of the operational limits of the platform and crews.
For the United States military, the presence of allied fighters also increases the realism of local training. Major Cody Bown, reservist from the 419th Fighter Wing and currently deputy commander of the 388th Operations Group, stated that Dutch participation increases the number of aircraft involved, diversifies pilot profiles and makes the scenarios closer to a real operation.
As the exercise progresses, the Dutch unit’s goal is to return to Europe with the certainty that it can carry out large-scale deployments, sustain high-tempo combat operations and fully integrate with its main allies.
The Dutch command also highlighted the support received from the Hill base team, classifying the reception as one of the best ever seen in international deployments.
Source and images: United States Air Force. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
