Lockheed F-35 jet used by U.S. in combat for first time: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States used an F-35 jet against a Taliban target in Afghanistan earlier on Thursday, marking the first U.S. combat use of the stealthy plane, a U.S. official said. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the F-35B jet took off from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship in the Arabian Sea. The F-35, made by Lockheed Martin Co, comes in three variants - the F-35A conventional take-off and landing model, the F-35B, a short take-off/vertical landi