The US Air Force announced on its website http://www.af.mil that for the first time, an F-35A fired a GBU-12 ammunition. According to the information on the website, six F-35A armed with laser guidance kit GBU-12 have taken off from Eglin Air Base on 17 January and released two bombs to Eglin Shooting Range.

The service did not disclose the weather conditions of the range, however released a photograph showing ammunition installation to the aircraft under fog. The photographs on the release reminded of two F-35A Adir which were sent to Israel. The aircraft landed in Italy during their flight from the Us to Israel, however their take-off was delayed due to heavy fog.