On 6 January, the active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings of the United States Air Force conducted an F-35A Combat Power Exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. In total, 52 aircraft participated in the exercise.
Coincidentally a few days before the exercise, U.S. President Trump threatened on Twitter that if Iran would strike any Americans, or American assets, the U.S. will target 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago).
The exercise, which was planned for months, demonstrated their ability to employ a large force of F-35As, testing readiness in the areas of personnel accountability, aircraft generation, ground operations, flight operations, and combat capability against air and ground targets. A little more than four years after receiving their first combat-coded F35A Lightning II aircraft, Hill’s fighter wings have achieved full war-fighting capability.
President Donald Trump’s Tweet
….hundreds of Iranian protesters. He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
….targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020