The United States is deploying ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in the latest surge of military power in the Caribbean over the last month.

The U.S. military has sent several Navy ships to the region, but the F-35s are the first land-based strike aircraft deployed specifically to operate in the theater.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes amid a buildup of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean in what Pentagon officials have called anti-drug trafficking operations. That operation led to the U.S. bombing a boat in the Caribbean that the U.S. said was a drug vessel coming from Venezuela.

The F-35s will fly to Puerto Rico, where they will support naval forces in the region, according to Pentagon officials. It is not clear what branch they belong to or where they are flying from.

See Full Page