Eleven months deployed out of twelve. Thousands of combat hours. The first-ever air-to-air kills for the F-35A. The 34th Fighter Squadron just earned the Raytheon Trophy — and no unit in the Air Force had a more gruelling year to show for it.

The "Rude Rams" of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, were named the top fighter squadron in the U.S. Air Force for 2025. The Raytheon Trophy, awarded annually since 1953, recognises the service's best air superiority or air defence unit. Winning it means you didn't just fly well — you outperformed every other fighter squadron in America.

First F-35A Air-to-Air Kills

The 34th's 2025 deployment to the CENTCOM area of responsibility was historic. Operating under Operations Rough Rider and Midnight Hammer, the squadron's pilots struck air defence systems, command centres, weapons storage sites and missile installations. But the headline achievement was something no F-35A unit had done before: scoring air-to-air kills, intercepting Iranian one-way attack drones threatening coalition forces.

It's worth pausing on that. The F-35 was designed from the outset as a multi-role fighter, but its first shots in anger were always expected to be air-to-ground. The fact that 34th FS pilots used the jet's sensors and weapons to shoot down drones in a live combat environment is a milestone for the entire F-35 programme — proof that the Lightning II can do exactly what Lockheed Martin always promised.

Pioneers of the Lightning Era

The Rude Rams aren't just any F-35 squadron. They were the first combat-coded F-35A unit in the entire Air Force, receiving their initial jets in late 2015 and declaring Initial Operational Capability in August 2016. Everything the F-35A community knows about deploying, maintaining, and fighting with the jet — the 34th learned it first.

That pioneering role makes this trophy win feel almost inevitable. The squadron has spent a decade building institutional knowledge that no other unit can match, and when the call came to deploy for nearly a full year to one of the most demanding theatres on Earth, they delivered.

What the Trophy Means

The Raytheon Trophy isn't a participation medal. Past winners include units that flew in Vietnam, patrolled the skies over Iraq, and stood alert during the Cold War. Joining that list means the Rude Rams have earned their place alongside the best fighter pilots the Air Force has ever produced.

For the pilots and ground crews who spent 2025 living out of expeditionary tents and flying combat sorties night after night, the trophy is validation. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that behind every headline about the F-35's cost overruns and software glitches, there are pilots and maintainers making the jet do extraordinary things in the most dangerous skies on the planet.

Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine; Military Times; Deseret News