The F-35 wearing the tail code “WW” will join Misawa’s 35th Fighter Wing and fly the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) mission from Japan.
On June 16, 2026, the F-35A Lightning II aircraft 24-5970 made its first flight from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. The jet departed around 2PM local time and returned roughly an hour later for a straight in approach to a full stop, accompanied by an ATAC F-1 chase.
The aircraft, destined to the 35th Fighter Wing, based at Misawa Air Base, Japan, is the first F-35 to carry the iconic “WW” tail code, as the photos, taken by photographer Tim Wurth, show.
Standing for Wild Weasel, the code reflects the wing’s heritage and mission, a nickname that, since the Vietnam War, has been associated with U.S. Air Force units and aircraft tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) mission. Misawa’s fighters adopted the “WW” tail code on Jun. 18, 1996, when the 35th Fighter Wing changed its tail flash from “MJ” to “WW” to reflect both its mission and its long association with Wild Weasel operations, including its earlier role as the Wild Weasel training center at George AFB.
Interestingly, the text “FILO” appears on top of the tail: it stands for “First In, Last Out,” the 35th Fighter Wing’s motto, which highlights the unit’s willingness and confidence to put lives on the line, press the attack against integrated air defense systems, and see each mission through.
The aircraft is said to be destined to the 13th Fighter Squadron, although it is actually the Operations Group commander’s aircraft sporting also the badge of the 14th Fighter Squadron on the right air intake: a similar arrangement was previously seen on F-16C 90-0805 at Misawa Air Base. The aircraft, marked as a 35th Operations Group jet, carried the 14th Fighter Squadron emblem on the right side of the tail and the 13th Fighter Squadron emblem on the left, effectively representing both of Misawa’s Wild Weasel squadrons rather than a single unit.
The 13th Fighter Squadron traces its modern combat identity to the Vietnam War. Its predecessor, the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, was activated in 1966 and operated from Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, flying Wild Weasel missions against North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites. Official Misawa material says the squadron “pioneered the Wild Weasel mission during the Vietnam War.”
The squadron later adopted the “Panther Pack” identity. According to Misawa’s fact sheet, in 1972 the 13th FS adopted a black Asian leopard named Eldridge and became known as the Panther Pack.
The F-35A 24-5970 will join the first four F-35A Lightning II fighter jets that arrived at Misawa on Mar. 28, 2026, marking the arrival of the service’s first F-35s to be permanently based in Japan. As explained in a previous story we published here at The Aviationist, the first four aircraft, which arrived from the U.S. after a stop at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, were not newly built: three F-35s were transferred from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, while the fourth previously belonged to RAF Lakenheath, UK. All of them retained their original tail codes, respectively “HL” and “LN”.
Along with the 13th FS, also the 14th Fighter Squadron will replace its F-16C/Ds with the F-35A: overall, the 35th Fighter Wing is slated to replace 36 F-16s with 48 F-35As.
The transition from the F-16 to the F-35 marks a major evolution in Misawa’s Wild Weasel mission, with the Lightning II bringing capabilities that are inherently suited to SEAD.
The F-35 and the Wild Weasel mission
The F-35 is said to have the ability to locate and track enemy forces, jam radio frequencies and disrupt attacks from stand-off distance. However, it still lacks the integration of a missile for SEAD missions.
While the Block 3F already provided the ability to use, among the other stand-off weapons, also the GBU-39 SDBs (Small Diameter Bombs), at the moment, the AARGM-ER, the missile that will replace the AGM-88 and that the F-35A and F-35C will be able to carry inside the weapons bay, is still not available.
As I’ve previously noted, the USAF is adopting the AARGM-ER as an interim solution for the service’s Stand In Attack Weapon program for the F-35A and other platforms. Northrop is expected to produce 5,000+ AARGM-ER / SiAW weapons under the current effort.https://t.co/40RrPjVCyP
— Air-Power | NatSec Ledger (@NatSecLedger) February 23, 2026
So, the aircraft’s SEAD capability is, at least for some time, mostly reliant on the F-35’s AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar with sophisticated electronic attack capabilities, including false targets, network attack, advanced jamming and algorithm-packed data streams.
In an official U.S. Air Force release earlier this year, Lt. Col. John Widmer, commander of the 13th Fighter Squadron, described the F-35 as “tailor made to be a weasel platform,” noting that while legacy aircraft carried sensors or weapons added specifically for the mission, the F-35 was designed from the outset as a sensor platform, combining stealth, advanced sensors, sensor fusion and the ability to “quarterback” the fight. According to Widmer, stealth is one of the most significant advantages in the transition from the F-16, but it is the aircraft’s constantly evolving sensor package that allows pilots to detect, understand and manage the full spectrum of enemy threats.
Many thanks to Tim Wurth for sharing the photos with us and to Victoria Mae Fontana for the heads-up!
