U.S. F-35As Brandish
AIM-120 Missiles During Visit To North Macedonia
Two
Vermont Air National Guard F-35As carrying live missiles traveled to North
Macedonia to train and otherwise reassure a NATO ally.
BYJOSEPH TREVITHICKJUN 17, 2022 7:02 PM
JOSEPH TREVITHICKView Joseph Trevithick's Articles
Apair of F-35A Joint
Strike Fighters from the
Vermont Air National Guard touched down at Petrovec Military Airport near the
city of Skopje, the capital of the eastern European country of North Macedonia,
as part of an exercise earlier today. The jets are part of a contingent that
has been forward-deployed to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany since May to
support NATO air policing requirements that have expanded in light of the
conflict in Ukraine. They arrived at Petrovec armed with live AIM-120 Advanced
Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs.
The F-35As were both carrying a pair AIM-120s, one on
each of their two internal bay doors. The missiles could be clearly identified
as live rounds by the yellow band around the forward section of the body, which
indicates the presence of a high explosive warhead. An additional two missiles
were likely also housed in the bays themselves.
The visit to Petrovec by the two jets, both assigned
to the Vermont Air National Guard 134th Fighter Squadron appears to be the
first time Joint Strike Fighters of any kind have touched down in North
Macedonia or any other country in the Balkans. U.S. Air Forces in Europe
(USAFE), the Air Force's top command in Europe, said the
objective of sending the jets
there today was to demonstrate Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concepts of
operations and to reassure a NATO ally.
