The first operational deployment of United States Air Force F-35As took place on April 15, 2017 when six aircraft arrived at RAF Lakenheath (eight were planned to arrive but two returned to Bangor and are expected to arrive in the coming days.
The aircraft are from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and they are expected to be present in Europe for several weeks.
The six F-35As that arrived at Lakenheath on April 15 were:-
13-5072 "Thud11"
14-5094 "Alta21"
14-5096 "Alta22"
14-5097 "Alta23"
14-5098 "Thud12"
14-5102 "Alta24"

Support was provided by 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135Rs 63-7999 "Rch069" and 61-0299 "Rch079"