LAYTON, Utah — Fighter jets from Hill Air Force Base landed in Great Britain on Thursday, a signal that Utah could play a role in any war against Iran.
Photographer Mark Lynham captured a photo of an F-35 with markings from Hill’s 421st Fighter Squadron landing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath. He said he counted 12 such jets.
Other plane spotters and online sleuths have also posted information saying the Hill F-35s had arrived. Lakenheath is about 3,700 miles from Tehran, meaning the F-35s may need to move again to be in striking distance of Iran.
A spokesman for Hill’s 388th Fighter Wing, of which the 421st is part, said the Air Force is not commenting on the movements of the F-35s.
Hill’s F-35s were deployed in the June strike against Iran. The Air Force said the fighters targeted Iran’s air defenses and escorted B-2 bombers that dropped munitions on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Dan Grazier, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer who is now a senior fellow and program director at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., and who has tracked the F-35s’ development for years, said he expects the fighters to be used similarly in any new attack on Iran, though Iranians may have learned from the June bombings.
Layton community sends love, support to Hill Air Force Base troops as Iran tension escalates:
They also might have gained intelligence from a former U.S. Air Force officer who just this week was charged with crimes connected to training pilots from the Chinese military.
“Who knows how that information was shared to the air defense people that are potentially advising the Iranians,” Grazier said.
Greg Williams, the director of the Center For Defense Information at the Project On Government Oversight, said the U.S. military will try to mitigate the dangers to pilots.
“Anytime somebody might be shooting at you - I don't know if you've ever been around when guns are going off – it’s dangerous,” Williams said.
“That said, the military tends to place a very high premium on the safety of our personnel, and so they tend to plan these, these engagements to minimize that danger.”
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