They are doing this not because this is how the US will fight the F-35. But it is how the Chinese plans to fights its 5G fighters. The US uses the F-35 differently.
Air Force Weapons School and Red Flag to use F-35 as aggressors
The 65th AS will provide USAF with fifth-generation “red air” to replicate the advanced threats posed by other fifth-gen fighters from China and Russia.
“Using the F-35 as an aggressor allows pilots to train against low-observable threats similar to what adversaries are developing,” Col. Scott Mills, 57th Operations Group commander, said in a statement.
The F-35s that will make up the 65th Aggressor Squadron are slated to be non-combat-coded aircraft—original plans called for nine to transfer from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
At Nellis, the fifth-gen fighters will help train students at the Air Force Weapons School and also assist in Red Flag exercises, among other exercises and training events. In doing so, they’ll also help train pilots from other services and allies, Mills said.
Officials had previously begun to integrate fifth-generation aggressors at Red Flag 21-3, using F-35s in the exercise alongside F-16s from the 64th Aggressor Squadron, but the 65th AS is the first aggressor squadron equipped with F-35s.