A statement was released last week by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson that the F-35A is ready for combat if needed. Is this a bold statement for the purpose of getting North Korea’a attention or simply a matter of fact? What do you think?

“We now just passed 100,000 flying hours with the F-35, and it is doing very well and in any contingency, if there were a problem, they’re ready to go — ready to go to combat,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon.

In recent months, service officials said they plan to rotate a “theater security package” of F-35As to the Asia-Pacific region.

“We do expect to busy, and we do expect to be on the move quite a bit,” 1st Lt. Brett Burnside, a brand-new F-35 Lightning II pilot, told Military.com recently about his training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Burnside is next headed to the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah — one of four U.S. F-35A locations.

“I know we have some stuff planned for the future — theater security packages — but I can’t really speak to that,” he said. – DoDBuzz

Featured image of F-35A Lightning II aircraft receiving fuel from a KC-10 Extender from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., July 13, 2015, during a flight from England to the U.S. U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Madelyn Brown