The primary of ten F-35s arrived in Puerto Rico, notably exhibiting their unit insignias eliminated.
A flight of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters has arrived in Puerto Rico, becoming a member of a broader and visibly expanded U.S. navy posture within the Caribbean that U.S. officers tie to counter-drug operations. The information in regards to the imminent deployment was first disclosed on Sept. 5, 2025, as a consequence of the flight of two Venezuelan F-16s close to a U.S. vessel.
F-35s Contact Down in Puerto Rico
Images and open-source monitoring first confirmed F-35s touchdown on the former Roosevelt Roads naval complicated in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. A Reuters photographer captured photos of 5 F-35s touching down there on Sept. 13, whereas open-source monitoring reveals extra jets arriving from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma by way of MacDill Air Power Base.
F-35 fighters have arrived on the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, now working as the first staging base for the plane and their assist groups.
Due to @HRPlanespotter for capturing the landings! pic.twitter.com/LMC8Lm6XFb
— GMI (@Global_Mil_Info) September 13, 2025
Photograph proof suggests a minimum of among the fighters had been refueled en route by a KC-135 Stratotanker close to Miami, Florida. A number of tankers had been tracked whereas in flight with the “GOLD” callsign, normally related to ferry flights in assist of fighters.
📍Miami, #UnitedStates (🇺🇸)
Miami-based aircraft spotter @/Soflonikonuser was capable of seize 5x F-35Bs present process aerial refueling from a @usairforce KC-135R Stratotanker above Miami en route in the direction of Puerto Rico.
The US is to deploy a complete of 10x from PR to bolster property. pic.twitter.com/Rzy55xuIel
— SA Defensa (@SA_Defensa) September 13, 2025
In complete, two flights of F-35s had been reported leaving MCAS Yuma. The primary flight, callsign “MAZDA11” included six F-35Bs and departed on Sep. 12, whereas the second flight, callsign “MAZDA21” included 5 F-35Bs and departed on Sep. 13.
Six F-35s departed from MCAS Yuma #KNYL to José Aponte de la Torre Airport #TJRV as MAZDA 11 flight, at this time September twelfth 2025. That is the previous Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico #TJNR. Supporting #ALTRV Coronet South 814 was GOLD 61 (59-1460) #CS814 #CoronetSouth pic.twitter.com/yVC74SeEYp
— Coronet_deployments 🇳🇱 🇺🇸 (@CoronetEast) September 12, 2025
5 extra F-35s departed from MCAS Yuma #KNYL to José Aponte de la Torre Airport #TJRV as MAZDA 21 flight, at this time September thirteenth 2025. Supporting #ALTRV Coronet South 814 had been #GOLD61 (59-1460), #GOLD62 (59-1453) and #GOLD63 (58-0094) #CoronetSouth #CS814 #MAZDA21 pic.twitter.com/HULrPdVzxS
— Coronet_deployments 🇳🇱 🇺🇸 (@CoronetEast) September 13, 2025
Notably, the pictures of the F-35s touchdown at Ceiba confirmed the jets with out seen unit tail and fuselage markings. The absence of clear identifiers has raised questions amongst observers, though it’s being thought of as a deliberate measure to boost operational safety and cut back attribution of the deployed jets to the items concerned.
F-35B Lightning lls with the U.S. Marine Corps’ third Marine Plane Wing (third MAW) arriving earlier at this time at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Jap Puerto Rico. pic.twitter.com/vEmqZKur0W
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 14, 2025
Nevertheless, pictures captured on the airfield present personnel with unit patches clearly seen. This element, along with the Bureau Numbers and Modex, allowed observers to infer that the F-35s and personnel might need been chosen from a number of items.
Undoubtedly 🇺🇸 USMC F-35Bs in 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico now.
Pic by Marlyn Garcia by way of FB pic.twitter.com/Ls8rw3TBrZ
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) September 13, 2025
Operational Particulars Stay Unclear
The Pentagon has been cautious in public statements. A Pentagon responsibility press officer informed Reuters the division had “no pressure posture modifications to announce at present.” Notably, senior officers – together with Secretary of Warfare Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Common Dan Caine – made unannounced visits to forces in Puerto Rico.
Neither the precise variety of plane that may stay in Puerto Rico nor their service department or variant has been confirmed publicly, though we now know from public reporting that the jets concerned are U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35Bs. Nevertheless, whereas the arrival of F-35s in Puerto Rico is probably the most seen ingredient but of a widened U.S. navy footprint within the Caribbean, it’s not the one arrival.
🇵🇷🇺🇸 Ceiba/Roosevelt Roads appears again in enterprise.
Pics by Ricardo Arduengo w/ Reuters pic.twitter.com/aZcuNREcgo
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) September 14, 2025
Air & Area Forces Journal and different shops have reported sightings of extra air property within the territory, together with MQ-9 Reaper drones, KC-135 and KC-46 tankers, and frequent C-17 cargo flights that seem like supporting an expanded logistics footprint. A few of these actions had been additionally photographed by Reuters.
What the F-35s Convey
Observers and analysts emphasize that the F-35’s worth within the area extends past air-to-air fight. As we beforehand famous right here at The Aviationist, the fifth-generation platform combines superior strike functionality with extraordinarily succesful sensors and data-fusion methods that make it a strong nontraditional Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) asset.
F-35 fighter jets taxi on the runway on the former Roosevelt Roads navy base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, September 13, 2025. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo pic.twitter.com/9mlcnNOJbY
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) September 13, 2025
The plane’s AESA radar and electro-optical suites can acquire and fuse data that’s distributed throughout command networks, enhancing maritime and overland situational consciousness in complicated environments. This multiplies the effectiveness of any pressure bundle it helps, making the plane not solely a deterrent by presence but additionally a pressure enabler that enhances situational consciousness and operational decision-making in contested environments.
Context: the Strike that Modified Posture
As talked about within the opening, the information in regards to the F-35’s deployment was first publicized on Sept. 5, 2025, as a consequence of the flight of two Venezuelan F-16s close to a U.S. vessel. Hours after the announcement, Venezuelan jets flew a second time over a U.S. warship, recognized as the usJason Dunham, which was reportedly the identical which skilled the interplay with Venezuelan F-16s the day earlier.
The overflights themselves had been a consequence of the deadly strike in opposition to a suspected Venezuelan drug vessel within the southern Caribbean, carried out by the U.S. navy on Sep. 2, 2025. This was the primary identified use of direct navy pressure in opposition to a drug cartel’s maritime operations because the deployment of extra U.S. warships to the area.
As we reported, the strike provoked questions on legality and proportionality, withs authorized and human-rights considerations raised by students and a few members of Congress, who questioned whether or not deadly pressure in worldwide waters was in keeping with worldwide regulation and conventional interdiction follow. Critics additionally level out the bizarre nature of utilizing high-end airpower for maritime drug interdiction when regulation enforcement boarding and seizure have traditionally been the norm.
Regional sign and escalation danger
U.S. officers body the deployments primarily as counter-narcotics operations designed to disrupt maritime trafficking and shield U.S. forces and vessels working in worldwide waters. However, the dimensions and visibility of the buildup—a mixture of floor combatants, submarine property, 1000’s of Marines and new airpower—have been interpreted by some observers as a broader sign to Caracas.
Caracas has accused Washington of utilizing counter-narcotics as a pretext for stress or regime change. The latter maintains that the objective of the operation is to cease the downpour of medicine within the U.S. cities, though the Trump administration has additionally doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of supporting drug trafficking and prison networks, in response to Reuters and CNN.
That setting, nonetheless, elevates the chance calculus, as there may be the potential for miscalculation throughout shut maneuvers at sea and the political sensitivity of strikes or shoot-downs. President Trump’s public feedback warning that Venezuelan plane may very well be shot down in the event that they positioned U.S. ships “in a harmful place” sign that the scenario may develop into tense at any level in future if occasions are misjudged.
