USAF Adds to SOUTHCOM Buildup, Deploying F-35s to Puerto Rico

F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, adding new Air Force assets to the growing buildup of forces in Latin America pressuring drug traffickers and the beleaguered regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. 

The F-35As join Marine Corps F-35Bs that deployed to the island in September. The Marines’ F-35s have flown missions from the island, including escorting USAF bombers near the Venezuelan coast. In fifth-generation fighters have more than messaging value, with powerful sensing capabilities that can be useful in intelligence gathering over and near Venezuela and across the Caribbean Sea. 

The F-35A deployment was first reported by local media in Vermont, which didn’t reveal where the Airmen and aircraft were going. But Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said in a statement Dec. 12 that the Vermont ANG’s 158th Fighter Wing deployed “to support Operation Southern Spear,” the counter-drug campaign designed to stop the flow of drugs from Venezuela and Colombia to the U.S. 

Teh Reuters wire service published photos Dec. 20 of F-35s marked with “VT” tail flashes landing at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command declined to confirm the deployment, saying “due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on U.S. aircraft’s operational movements and activities nor disclose details of specific operations or routes.”  

The F-35As join other units already in the region. On social media, Air Forces Southern revealed Dec. 22 that HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters had arrived on Puerto Rico, shipped on C-17 cargo jets. The helicopters are primarily used for search and rescue operatons.

Images released by AFSOUTH also show C-17s unloading cargo and KC-135 tankers deployed to the Dominican Republic in early December. 

Open-source flight tracking data, images and videos, and satellite imagery, all released or on social media, also show an Air Force EC-130H, an HC-130J, and MC-130Js in Puerto Rico in recent days. The C-130 variants are used for electronic warfare, special operations, and refueling. Other images published by Reuters’ show AC-130J gunships at Roosevelt Roads.

These aircraft are in addition to multiple MQ-9 Reaper drones that have been operating from Puerto Rico for months now, as well as Navy F/A-18 fighters, EA-18 electronic warfare jets, AV-8 Harrier jump jets, and AH-1 attack helicopters. 

Meanwhile, the Air Force’s “bomber attack demonstration” flights near Venezuela, which have featured B-52s and B-1s, appear to have slowed slightly. After conducting such flights weekly in November and early December, the last known patrol took place Dec. 11.