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2h ago

Pentagon Releases First Images Confirming F-35B Deployment to Puerto Rico as Caribbean Buildup Intensifies

The forward basing adds combat-credible airpower to a wider counternarcotics posture that Caracas has publicly protested.

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Overview

  • Ten USMC F-35B jets arrived at Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads on September 13, with the Pentagon publishing the first official photos confirming the forward deployment.
  • Photo captions identify the aircraft as VMFA-225 even though tail codes and unit markings were removed in the images.
  • Open-source flight trackers and Venezuela’s defense minister report F-35 patrols off the Venezuelan coast within the Maiquetía flight region, which The War Zone says it cannot independently confirm.
  • The jets are part of a larger U.S. presence that includes the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group/22nd MEU, multiple destroyers, a cruiser, a fast-attack submarine, MQ-9 Reapers, and specialized support vessels.
  • An AP-obtained memo says President Trump designated drug cartels as unlawful combatants and notified Congress, while separate social-media OSINT claims about potential territorial-seizure operations in Venezuela remain unverified and developing.