JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You may have already caught a glimpse of the F-35 Lightning II in the skies over Jacksonville, or at the very least, you’ve probably heard them.
The Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing just officially completed the transition from the F-15 Eagle to the latest and greatest military jet in the skies in March.
Action News Jax was the only local news station there for the ceremony officially marking the transition.
“This is a transformational moment in the history of the 125th Fighter Wing,” said Mayor Donna Deegan at the transition ceremony.
Following the ceremony, we got a firsthand look at the new jets from Colonel Mansour Elhihi, Commander of the 125th Fighter Wing and F-35 pilot.
“It takes all of these different components, fuses it and provides what we call a common operating picture to the pilot so we can basically battle manage and run the airspace,” said Elhihi.
And the technology in the aircraft is no joke.
Little black windows all around the body house camera systems that feed back into the helmet, which works a lot like a virtual reality headset.
“This display turns night into day,” said Elhihi.
We got an exclusive look at that helmet in the ready room.
The tech isn’t cheap.
The helmet alone runs about half a million dollars.
Bringing the 20 F-35’s to Jacksonville was no easy feat.
The 125th Fighter Wing is now among just nine Air Force units with F-35’s in its inventory.
Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL 5th District) worked for nearly a decade at the federal level to make the transition a reality.
“To have that capability based right here and always ready to go abroad to help protect America’s national interest, we’re very proud to have that fighter wing, the 125th right here in Jacksonville,” said Congressman Rutherford in a recent interview on This Week in the 904.
The arrival of the F-35 is expected to benefit the greater Jacksonville community as a whole, making the Air National Guard Base more attractive for recruitment, growing our region and solidifying Jacksonville as a critical piece of the national defense strategy.
“The F-35 is the most advanced piece of technology and the most advanced fighter the world has ever known. It is nothing without the men and women on the ground or in the cockpit,” said Elhihi. ”And I truly believe that with this most advanced fighter and the airmen that we have here, the future has no limits for us.”
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