The US military's F-35B joint strike fighter conducted its first-ever airstrike on Thursday, according to the US Marine Corps and three US defence officials.

F-35B neutralized Taliban targets in Afghanistan. The aircraft involved were the US Marine Corps' variant of the aircraft flying from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship.

The Marines confirmed the strike in a statement: “During this mission the F-35B conducted an air strike in support of ground clearance operations, and the strike was deemed successful by the ground force commander.”

F-35s are expected to be used in electronically complex environment as they are stealth aircraft to evade radar signals.