In what year did the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, join the "Statue of Liberty Wing"?
48th Fighter Wing The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW) is part of the United States Air Force's Third Air Force, assigned to Headquarters Air Command Europe and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It is based at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48 FW is the only F-15 wing based in Europe and consists of both F-15C/D Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft as well as a rescue squadron of HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. The 48 FW was given the name "Statue of Liberty Wing" on 4 July 1954 and remains the only U.S. Air Force unit with both a name and a numerical designation.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters. The fifth-generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack and air superiority missions. It has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) variant. On 31 July 2015, the United States Marines declared ready for deployment the first squadron of F-35B fighters after intensive testing. On 2 August 2016, the U.S. Air Force declared its first squadron of F-35A fighters combat-ready.