While controversy trails the F-35A Lightning II fighter whenever it flies these days, only contrails were visible Thursday as the cutting-edge stealth jet made one of its first appearances in the ongoing Red Flag air combat exercise at Nellis Air Force Base.

Since the years first Red Flag began Jan. 23, the F-35A the Air Force version of the $100 million joint strike fighter has been flying for the first time in tandem with the nations other stealth air-superiority jet, the F-22 Raptor, and more than 80 other warplanes and support aircraft from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

So far, the Lightning II has racked up 110 missions in the exercise that ends Feb. 10 over the sprawling Nevada Test and Training Range, north of the Las Vegas Valley.

The F-35 has been in the limelight since December, when then-President-elect Donald Trump criticized the cost of the Lockheed Martin aircraft as out of control in a series of tweets and said he had asked rival Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet that could perform the same mission. Eight F-18 Hornets also were participating in Red Flag.

Before his squadron departed for Thursdays war exercise, Lt. Col. George Banzai Watkins, commander of the F-35As from the 34th Fighter Squadron, declined to compare apples and oranges of the radar-evading joint strike fighters with the Navys non-stealthy F-18 Super Hornet.

But Watkins said the F-35 has been living up to what its expected to do, in the exercise.

Red Flag planners made sure that the 13 F-35s from Hill Air Force Base in Utah have had more aggressor jets than ever to counter and avoid simulated advanced missile strikes.

Meanwhile the F-35s on the friendly blue team have been successful in finding ground-based air defense sites with their high-tech sensors and taking them out with training bombs.

As of Thursday the F-35s kill ratio with aggressor jets stood at 15-1, even though the F-35s primary mission isnt air-to-air combat, which typically is left up to the Raptor.

Watkins said hes never seen a Red Flag like this where theyve put up as many advanced threats against us. If we didnt suffer a few losses, it wouldnt be challenging enough.

Members of Congress who hold the Pentagons purse strings have been paying close attention to the debate over the cost of the F-35. The unit price of roughly $100 million apiece is expected to decrease to the $90 million range as more of the estimated 150 joint strike fighters are produced for the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Navy and allies.

Rep. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, a new member of the House Armed Services Committee, said she has an open mind on the presidents approach to reviewing the nations most expensive weapons system.

The president and secretary of defenses focus on tackling the cost of the F-35 is absolutely right, she said in an email via her spokesman. Costs are coming down, but I believe there are additional avenues available to continue to reduce what were paying for these aircraft.

Watkins said the F-35As debut has demonstrated that the nations newest stealth jet provides an essential complement to the F-22s.

Theyre designed for air-to-air. Were designed for the suppression of enemy air defense positions, he said. We can see the ground through the weather with our SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) mapping radar to detect a threat and take it out before its a factor to the other aircraft out there.

The Marine version the F-35B was the first joint strike fighter to fly in a Red Flag at Nellis, in July last year.

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Follow @KeithRogers2 on Twitter.

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Controversial F-35A warplane struts its stuff in Red Flag excercise ... - Las Vegas Review-Journal