WASHINGTON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Defense will deploy a small number of F-35 fighter jets to Europe for training this weekend, a milestone for the F-35 programs, it said in a statement Friday.

The F-35A Lighting II joint strike fighter aircraft will conduct training with other U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aircrafts as part of the European Reassurance Initiative, the statement said.

The program constitutes an "important milestone and natural progression of the F-35 program," as it will allow the U.S. Air Force to demonstrate the operational capabilities of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, and prepare Europe for receiving the jets in early 2024.

The announcement came two days after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, during which Trump reversed his harsh criticism of the military alliance during the campaign and said it was "no longer obsolete".