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U.S. and Dutch F-35 Stealth Fighters Conduct Joint High-Tempo Operations to Strengthen NATO Combat Readiness.
Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force F-35A fighters deployed to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, for exercise Lightning Forge, integrating with U.S. Air Force F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing in a realistic contested-air combat environment. This matters because the drill tests whether NATO F-35 units can generate combat power quickly, sustain tempo, and fight as one force under pressure.
The March 2026 deployment is the largest F-35 deployment ever mounted by the Dutch service, with crews generating two lines of sorties daily, loading live and inert weapons throughout the month, and operating from the Utah Test and Training Range alongside one of the Air Force’s leading F-35 wings. Dutch commanders say the point is not simple coalition exposure, but true fifth-generation integration, where U.S. and Dutch crews plan, brief, fly, and debrief together for complex combat operations.
Two 34th Fighter Squadron F-35As from the 388th Fighter Wing flew alongside a Royal Netherlands KC-30M tanker during aerial refueling in Exercise Lightning Forge on March 4, 2026, training to strengthen U.S.-Dutch air combat integration (Picture Source: U.S. Air Force)
At the center of Lightning Forge is the F-35A Lightning II, an aircraft whose importance lies not only in stealth, survivability, and sensor fusion, but also in its ability to connect pilots, mission systems, and weapons into a common operational framework. That makes this training event strategically significant for both the Netherlands and the United States. The Dutch detachment did not deploy to Hill simply to fly near American aircraft or to take part in a symbolic transatlantic engagement. It was deployed to integrate directly with one of the U.S. Air Force’s leading F-35 units in a way that reflects how NATO airpower would need to fight in a contested battlespace. According to Lt. Col. “Swinger,” commander of 313 Squadron, the main objective is to prepare for complex combat operations in close cooperation with U.S. partners, with a strong emphasis on having Dutch and American F-35s operate in an integrated fashion.
That objective is especially important because both the 388th Fighter Wing and the Dutch squadron are described as front-runner units within their respective air forces. This gives the exercise added operational weight. Rather than pairing a mature U.S. unit with a peripheral allied formation, Lightning Forge brings together two forces positioned at the leading edge of combat aviation in their national structures. For the Dutch, Hill AFB offered a logical partner because it is closely associated with operational experience, advanced readiness standards, and the day-to-day demands of modern F-35 operations. From a strategic perspective, this kind of alignment matters because it accelerates the transfer of best practices inside NATO and strengthens the alliance’s ability to produce combat-credible fifth-generation forces that can work together under real wartime pressure.
The Utah Test and Training Range is one of the elements that makes the exercise so valuable. For the Dutch contingent, it offers an environment far removed from the geographical and operational constraints of the Netherlands. Lt. Col. Swinger drew attention to the contrast between Utah’s vast and rugged range complex and the much flatter Dutch landscape, underscoring how important terrain, scale, and realistic threat replication are for advanced training. The range allows Dutch pilots to train against threat emitters and target sets that reproduce the type of hostile systems the F-35 is intended to defeat. This means that the aircraft’s capabilities can be employed more fully than would be possible at home. Just as importantly, the environment punishes errors, exposing tactical mistakes in a way that gives pilots both a confidence boost and a sobering understanding of the margins within which real combat operations unfold. For any air force serious about readiness, that kind of training is indispensable.
The scale of the deployment further elevates the importance of Lightning Forge. This is the largest F-35 deployment by the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force to date, and it is being conducted at a deliberately demanding pace. The Dutch are generating two lines of sorties every day, loading both live and inert weapons across the full month, while operating with a limited number of aircraft. This is not simply an aircrew exercise. It is a full-spectrum test of the unit’s capacity to deploy, sustain, generate, rearm, maintain, and recover a fifth-generation force far from home. In practical terms, that means the exercise is measuring whether the squadron can turn the F-35 from a high-technology platform into a reliable combat output over time. In modern warfare, readiness is not judged only by how advanced an aircraft appears in brochures or demonstrations, but by whether it can keep flying, keep fighting, and keep delivering effects under operational strain.
That high-tempo focus is one of the clearest indicators of the exercise’s seriousness. Lt. Col. Swinger described it as a true challenge for the whole unit, raising basic but decisive wartime questions: are the people ready, is the necessary material in place, and are the jets capable of sustaining such a pace? These are precisely the questions any NATO air arm must answer if it is to remain credible in a crisis against a sophisticated adversary. High sortie generation, sustained weapons loading, and repeated mission cycles test far more than pilots. They test maintainers, logistics crews, planners, support personnel, and the overall resilience of the squadron. For the Dutch force, Lightning Forge is a proving ground not only for its aircraft, but for its institutional capacity to conduct demanding combat operations as part of an alliance-led campaign.
The exercise also has a major human dimension, particularly for younger pilots in the Dutch F-35 community. For many of them, this is their first exposure to a deployment and exercise of such intensity and scale. That makes Lightning Forge a critical step in building the next layer of operational experience within the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force. According to the official report, the expectation is that these pilots will return home with a much stronger level of confidence both in the platform and in their own abilities. That confidence is not abstract. It is built through exposure to complexity, sustained pacing, tactical correction, and coalition operations in a realistic environment. The result is a faster path toward the level of proficiency required for full-scale combat operations. For NATO, this is one of the most valuable outcomes of such exercises, because allied combat power depends not only on fleet numbers but on the ability of pilots from different nations to function at a high level in the same operational system.
One of the most strategically important aspects of Lightning Forge is that it demonstrates the difference between simple multinational coordination and true integration. In earlier eras, allied air exercises often meant that different national aircraft flew in the same airspace while remaining largely separated in planning and execution. The shared F-35 platform is changing that model. As described by the Dutch commander, the U.S. and Dutch teams now plan together, brief together, fly together, and debrief together. That is a far more advanced form of cooperation, because it reflects combined mission generation rather than parallel national participation. With the same aircraft type, similar tactical frameworks, and mutually understood operational procedures, Dutch and American crews are able to bring effects to the fight together in a genuinely integrated way. This is one of the strongest arguments in favor of the F-35 as a NATO force multiplier: it helps transform alliance airpower from a coalition of national fleets into a more unified combat architecture.
The benefits are not limited to the Dutch side. U.S. personnel at Hill AFB also gain from the presence of allied F-35s. Maj. Cody Bown of the 419th Fighter Wing, serving as deputy commander of the 388th Operations Group, noted that the Dutch deployment improves training realism for U.S. Airmen by increasing the number of aircraft in the scenarios and introducing different pilots into the exercise environment. This gives American crews a broader, more demanding training picture while reinforcing the U.S. Air Force’s central role in enabling NATO interoperability. Hill AFB is not simply hosting a partner force; it is helping shape allied combat effectiveness by providing the infrastructure, training space, and operational ecosystem needed for advanced fifth-generation integration. In strategic terms, that underlines a core reality of NATO airpower: the United States remains the essential anchor that allows allied capabilities to mature faster and operate more effectively together.
The support provided by Team Hill also appears to have played a decisive role in enabling the Dutch mission. Lt. Col. Swinger openly praised the level of assistance received, describing it as unmatched compared to his previous international deployments. That support matters because allied readiness is not built by aircraft alone. It depends on the depth of host-nation infrastructure, the responsiveness of support organizations, and the ability of a larger partner to absorb and enable visiting units without reducing the quality of its own training. In that sense, Lightning Forge is not only about the flying schedule or the tactical scenarios. It is also a demonstration of how U.S. bases and support structures can serve as force multipliers for NATO allies, enabling them to conduct more ambitious deployments and return home better prepared for real operations.
The message emerging from Lightning Forge is broader than the success of a single exercise. For the Netherlands, this deployment is a major milestone in proving that its F-35 force can deploy at scale, sustain a demanding operational rhythm, and work seamlessly with the ally that remains central to Western airpower. For the United States, it is another example of how American leadership, infrastructure, and operational experience strengthen the combat readiness of allied nations in practical and measurable ways. For NATO as a whole, the exercise shows that the alliance’s growing community of F-35 users is becoming more integrated, more capable, and more prepared for the realities of modern combat. In an era defined by contested airspace, rapid decision-making, and the need to generate credible combat power at speed, the Dutch deployment to Hill AFB sends a clear and powerful signal that allied fifth-generation readiness is advancing in step with the strategic demands of the moment.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.