MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD: US F-35 fighters fly first ever combat mission.

Thursday’s mission took place against Taliban targets in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, when more than one F-35 flew from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship.

“It was a successful strike,” the official told AFP.

The planes deployed were the F-35B variant, used by the Marine Corps and capable of taking off from a short runway and landing vertically.

It’s nice to have that kind of striking power on a “mere” amphibious assault vessel.