Fifteen years after the Pentagon kicked off the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the Marine Corps officially declared that ten fighter jets were ready to fly. The Marine Corps is the first military branch to declare the aircraft’s initial operational capability (IOC), and it will purchase 420 of the F-35B and C model jets.

Last week, Marine spokesmen teased the press by asserting that the jet would achieve its IOC soon. Friday, the Marines Corp confirmed that the first squadron of F-35B jets to Japan in January 2017. If the jets are needed at a sooner date, however, they are ready to travel at supersonic speeds to any location in the world.

Marine Commandant General Joseph Dunford said that “the F-35B’s ability to conduct operations from expeditionary airstrips or sea-based carriers provides our nation with its first fifth-generation strike fighter, which will transform the way we fight and win.”

The program has cost the Pentagon approximately $400 billion. With the first group of jets in the air, the military should soon reap the benefits of its pricey investment.