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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AP) — Hill Air Force Base officials say fighter pilots will be dropping bombs as part of routine training missions this winter.
The Standard-Examiner reports that the 388th Fighter Wing spokesman Nathan Simmons says pilots will be dropping bombs from new F-35As at the western Utah desert range.
The missions will take place about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. Simmons says they will begin loading and deploying weapons in late February or early March.
He says the training will start with non-explosive bombs but move on to explosive varieties.
Simmons says the bomb testing is a major item on the list of minimum requirements that must be met before the F-35s can be used in combat. The base hopes all the requirements will be met by August.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
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