Lessons Learned from U.S. Air Force F-35s Defending NATO

The US Air Force sent F-35s to Europe to gather electronic data from surface-to-air missiles and aircraft to build a map to guide NATO operations and add muscle if the situation spilled into NATO countries. The mission gave the Air Force a chance to hone its new short-notice approach to deployments and illustrated advances in the F-35's ability to communicate with the joint force and quickly adjust to unrecognized threats. The F-35s were able to locate and identify surface-to-air missile sites and pass that information to the rest of the coalition.