34th Fighter Squadron ‘Rude Rams’ Win Coveted Raytheon Trophy

The 34th Fighter Squadron won the Raytheon Trophy for its air superiority performance in 2025 during two major Middle East operations and a series of responses in the Pacific.

The F-35 Lightning II squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, received the honor following its role in Operation Rough Rider targeting Houthi rebel missile sites in Yemen, its penetrating offensive work escorting bombers during Operation Midnight Hammer to strike Iranian nuclear sites, and dozens of alert scrambles to counter aggression in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Air Force announced March 24.

“This award recognizes more than just capability—it recognizes a warrior mindset,” Air Combat Command Commander Gen. Adrian Spain said in the statement. “The Airmen of the 34th have demonstrated an unwavering resolve to take the fight to the enemy, generating lethal effects under the most demanding conditions. That is the essence of readiness—not just being ready to deploy but being ready to win.”

The Raytheon Trophy was established in 1953 and has been awarded annually to the top air superiority or air defense squadron in the U.S. Air Force.

In March 2025, the “Rude Rams” deployed on a short-notice Immediate Response Force Tasking to U.S. Central Command to assist in Operation Rough Rider.

“We got out the door very, very quickly,” said Lt. Col. Aaron Osborne, 34th Fighter Squadron commander, in a November 2025 press release. “Within 24 hours of being in theater, we were flying the F-35 in combat missions against Houthi targets.”

The operation sought to “disintegrate” Houthi capabilities in Yemen. The Houthis had been attacking shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab el-Mandeb Strait starting in late 2023 in response to the Israeli war in Gaza against Hamas.

Houthi attacks struck commercial ships, causing traffic to avoid the Red Sea and instead travel around Africa.

The 34th Fighter Squadron conducted strikes in Yemen that destroyed air defense systems, command and control facilities, weapons storage facilities, surface-to-air missiles, and ballistic missile capabilities, Air & Space Forces Magazine previously reported.

The squadron also notched the first air-to-air kills from an F-35A against one-way attack drones during the strikes.

“This is the first time anyone has been shot at in 20 years—actually carrying out the Wild Weasel mission. It’s the first time we’re carrying novel weapons on the F-35, bombing into tunnels, double-tapping targets with deep-penetration weapons,” Osborne said.

The Wild Weasel mission is a reference to suppression of air defense, or SEAD, coined during the Vietnam War when U.S. fighter jets flew ahead of strikes to trigger enemy radar, causing adversaries to fire their missiles.

On June 22, 2025, an F-35 formation from the squadron paved the way by suppressing enemy air defenses for the B-2s, and the fighters escorted the bombers to their target area, becoming the first aircraft to penetrate Iranian airspace during Operation Midnight Hammer.

The B-2s dropped 14 GBU-57 bunker-busting bombs, striking deeply buried targets in Iran.

“Our weapons officer was the overall mission commander,” Osborne said. “We employed weapons to great effect against surface-to-air missile sites … while they were trying to target us with some very high-end systems, and they were just unable to. … It was cool to see the jet detect and defeat things—to watch it do exactly what it was designed to do.”

Use of the F-35 proved critical, as the aircraft’s stealth capabilities meant it was not fired upon during the mission.

“The effectiveness of this strike validated all of the capabilities of the F-35 we’ve been talking about for years,” Col. Charles Fallon, 388th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement, adding that the strike package “depended on our pilots and this aircraft to perform, and both proved more than capable.”

The squadron and its associated 34th Fighter Generation Squadron’s work wasn’t isolated to CENTCOM. Earlier in 2025, the unit deployed to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and executed “dozens of alert scrambles” to counter aggression in the region, the Air Force said.

A spokesperson for the 388th Fighter Wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The wing’s 421st Fighter Squadron was named the 2023 Raytheon Trophy winner for two no-notice CENTCOM deployments that deterred Russian and Iranian aggression and flew more than 2,300 hours of defensive counter-air and close air support missions.

The 34th was the first combat-coded F-35A squadron in the Air Force. The unit received its first permanent F-35s in late 2017. It is also the most decorated F-35 unit in history. The squadron has received the Gallant Unit Citation for its actions in CENTCOM. The citation is the second-highest unit-level valor award in the Air Force, behind only the Presidential Unit Citation.

Airmen with the squadron have also received “dozens of nominations and awards for heroism and combat achievement,” according to the release. The list includes nominations for the Silver Star Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Bronze Star Medal.

Two F-16 pilots who also flew in Operation Rough Rider were recently awarded the Silver Star. Two pilots and a boom operator for a tanker crew received Distinguished Flying Crosses from the operation.