F-35s train in air combat 'beast mode' in the Pacific after China deploys 'carrier killer' missiles

• The USS Wasp, a small aircraft carrier patrolling the Pacific with F-35B fighter jets, recently trained its fighters on some extensive air-to-air combat.
• The Marines loaded their F-35B jump-jets with more weapons that can fit in the jet's internal weapons stores, training for an all out shooting war.
• The F-35 can stealthily fly with a few internal weapons, or lose its stealth to carry weapons outside, as it did in training.
• This shows the US wanted F-35 pilots to get a feel for heavy air-to-air exchanges in the Pacific, where China has threatened the US.
• China recently fielded "carrier killer" missiles, and the US has proposed using the F-35 to shoot down these missiles in flight.

US Marine Corps F-35B pilots embarked aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, took off with externally stored missiles in the Philippine Sea, which suggests they trained for all-out aerial combat with China.

The move came just days after China deployed its DF-26 missiles that experts say can take down US aircraft carriers from thousands of miles away.

The Wasp regularly patrols the western Pacific and became the first ship to host combat-ready F-35s, the first-ever carrier-launched stealth jets. The F-35B is a short-landing and take-off version designed for Marine pilots.

But the F-35's stealth design demands that it store weapons in an internal bay to preserve its radar-evading shape.

So when the F-35 flies with weapons outside the bay, it's flying in what Lockheed Martin calls "Beast Mode."

The F-35 only holds four air-to-air missiles on air combat focused missions, and just two when it splits the mission between air-to-ground and air-to-air.

Read more: China's new 'carrier killer' video is a treasure trove of military intel that should worry the US Navy

But with weapons pylons attached, Lockheed Martin has pitched the F-35 as an all-out bomb truck with 18,000 pounds worth of bombs and missiles in and under the wings, a loadout they call "Beast Mode."

While the F-35 has never actually tested this extensive loadout, the F-35Bs seen aboard the Wasp in January took off with two weapons pylons and at least one dummy missile air-to-air missile.

Other pictures of the F-35s on the Wasp showed guided bombs being loaded up into the jets.

Flying with the dummy missiles and pylons under the wings no doubt trains F-35 pilots on how the aircraft handles under increased strain, and what it's like to have a deeper magazine in potential combat scenarios.

Lockheed Martin previously told Business Insider that F-35s are meant to fly in stealth mode on the first day of a war when the jets need to sneak behind enemy defenses and take out surface-to-air missiles.

Read more: Trump's new Pentagon chief reportedly hates the F-35 - here's what the US could have made instead

Then, on after the initial salvos, Lockheed Martin described fully-laden F-35s throwing stealth to the wind and loading up on missiles and bombs.

"When we don't necessarily need to be stealthy, we can carry up to 18,000 pounds of bombs," Jeff Babione, general manager of the F-35 program, told Business Insider in 2017.

China is gunning for air-to-air dominance

But the theoretical implications of the F-35's loadout take on a new importance with in the Pacific, where China has increasingly sought to unilaterally impose its will on the international waterway.

China has increasingly threatened US ships in the region, with one admiral even calling for the sinking of US aircraft carriers.

Read more: The F-35 stealth fighter just pulled off a massive flex that China's J-20 and Russia's Su-57 aren't anywhere close to matching

China has responded to US stealth fighters with a stealth jet of its own, the J-20, a long-range platform with the stated goal of winning air superiority.

But experts recently told Business Insider that the J-20, as designed, would likely lose in air-to-air combat to almost any US or European air superiority fighter.

While the US may be able to contain China's air power for now, Beijing recently deployed "carrier killer" missiles to the country's northwest. The US, in its recent Missile Defense Review, suggested F-35s could potentially shoot down these missiles in flight.