Hill Air Force Base Jets To Fly Nighttime Missions
Sep 11, 2020, 2:11 PM
An F-35A pilot from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, conducts pre-flight preparations prior to taking off. (U.S. Air Force file photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
(U.S. Air Force file photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – The sound of fighter jets will echo across the nighttime sky near Hill Air Force Base next week.
The active duty 388th Fighter Wing and Reserve 419th Fighter Wing will fly up to 80 sorties per day, according to a news release.
Many of those flights will last into the night with some jets landing around 1 a.m.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 4th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron takes off from Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, April 24, 2019. The F-35A is deployed to the U.S. Air Forces Central Command area of responsibility for the first time in the Air Force’s history. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Drzazgowski)
The nighttime exercises will begin Monday and end Thursday.
The wings must fly at night to stay ready for combat. The release said nighttime flights will be used to evaluate “maintenance and operational agility.”
Airmen from both wings are already deployed to the Middle East and these exercises make sure the two squadrons still in Utah are ready for deployment if needed.
Hill Air Force Base is home to 78 F-35A Lightning II planes.
