WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (CGTN) -- The United States used an F-35 jet against a Taliban target in Afghanistan earlier on Thursday, marking the first US combat use of the stealthy plane, a US 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 landing version, and the F-35C, used aboard aircraft carriers.

In May, Israel became the first country to use the US-made F-35 stealth fighter in combat.

The United States and 10 partner nations are aiming to grow the F-35 fleet to more than 3,000 jets and bring the unit price of the F-35A closer to 80 million US dollars in 2020 through efficiencies gained by ordering in larger quantifies.

Lockheed is the prime contractor for the jet. Its partners include Northrop Grumman Corp, United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems Plc.