Posted on Jul 31, 2016
Marine Corps F-35B Stealth Fighter Is Ready for War, General Says
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The Marine Corps expects to send its first squadron of F-35Bs to Japan in January ahead of a deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
But there’s nothing stopping the Marines’ two operational squadrons of 5th-generation fighters from deploying earlier if called upon, Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon Davis said Friday
“We have a unit that’s ready to go right now,” Davis told Military.com following an event at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. “If we think we need to do that, we’re ready to do that.”
Davis alluded to the Marines’ F-35 deployment plan, which calls for the permanent relocation of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 from Yuma, Arizona, to Japan at the start of next year and two subsequent F-35 deployments with Marine Expeditionary Units by 2018.
If a combatant commander calls for a unit to deploy for combat or for another contingency mission, Davis said it would be necessary to re-evaluate those plans.
“Do we keep that on track, or do we do something different,” he said. “That’s up to the national command authorities.”
In an address to the think tank, Davis bragged that the F-35 had been “phenomenally successful” in recent tests that required the aircraft to locate and destroy targets and face off against notional enemy fighters.
“We’ve got a jewel on our hands,” he said. “Everyone who flies a pointy-nose aircraft in the Marine Corps wants to fly this.”
Earlier this month at the Farnborough International Airshow, Davis’ deputy, Col. William Lieblein, said the Corps plans to deploy F-35 squadrons aboard three MEUs and aboard one aircraft carrier by 2021.
Davis confirmed Friday that, in addition to the deployment of VMFA-121 from Japan with the 31st MEU, a second squadron would go out on a pump with a West Coast-based MEU in 2018.
Davis’ comments align with those of Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, who told reporters this month that he would be ready and willing to deploy the F-35A Air Force variant of the aircraft at the behest of the relevant combatant commander as soon as the Air Force declares initial operational capability, which could happen as soon as early August.
The comments refute criticisms about aircraft software glitches and technical issues, including a dense report released this year by the Pentagon’s director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which raised concerns about maintenance downtime and software delays.
“Some of the technical challenges facing the program will take years to correct, and as a result, the F-35’s operationally demonstrated suitability for combat will not be known until 2022 at the earliest,” staff with the Project on Government Oversight said of the report in a blog post.
On Friday, Davis noted that the F-35 was not only a capabilities boon for the Marine Corps, but an opportunity to retire aging AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets that are nearing the end of their service lives.
The Marine Corps recently pulled 23 Hornets out of the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to help the service maintain its combat and training presence until more F-35B squadrons are activated. The Marine Corps currently has two active F-35 squadrons, with three more planned to stand up by 2020.
“We’re going to get out of those airplanes as quick as we can,” Davis said. “And the only way we can get out of them is when the F-35s arrive.”
@SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas , Capt Christopher Mueller , CPT (Join to see) , COL Mikel J. Burroughs , Sgt Joe LaBranche , SSgt (Join to see), TSgt Hunter Logan Capt Seid Waddell SrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F. PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom Earley PVT James Strait Alan K. @po1 william "chip" PO1 William "Chip" Nagel @SGT John McConnell SGT John " Mac " McConnell, LTC Stephen C., @sgt robert george SGT Robert George
But there’s nothing stopping the Marines’ two operational squadrons of 5th-generation fighters from deploying earlier if called upon, Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon Davis said Friday
“We have a unit that’s ready to go right now,” Davis told Military.com following an event at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. “If we think we need to do that, we’re ready to do that.”
Davis alluded to the Marines’ F-35 deployment plan, which calls for the permanent relocation of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 from Yuma, Arizona, to Japan at the start of next year and two subsequent F-35 deployments with Marine Expeditionary Units by 2018.
If a combatant commander calls for a unit to deploy for combat or for another contingency mission, Davis said it would be necessary to re-evaluate those plans.
“Do we keep that on track, or do we do something different,” he said. “That’s up to the national command authorities.”
In an address to the think tank, Davis bragged that the F-35 had been “phenomenally successful” in recent tests that required the aircraft to locate and destroy targets and face off against notional enemy fighters.
“We’ve got a jewel on our hands,” he said. “Everyone who flies a pointy-nose aircraft in the Marine Corps wants to fly this.”
Earlier this month at the Farnborough International Airshow, Davis’ deputy, Col. William Lieblein, said the Corps plans to deploy F-35 squadrons aboard three MEUs and aboard one aircraft carrier by 2021.
Davis confirmed Friday that, in addition to the deployment of VMFA-121 from Japan with the 31st MEU, a second squadron would go out on a pump with a West Coast-based MEU in 2018.
Davis’ comments align with those of Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, who told reporters this month that he would be ready and willing to deploy the F-35A Air Force variant of the aircraft at the behest of the relevant combatant commander as soon as the Air Force declares initial operational capability, which could happen as soon as early August.
The comments refute criticisms about aircraft software glitches and technical issues, including a dense report released this year by the Pentagon’s director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which raised concerns about maintenance downtime and software delays.
“Some of the technical challenges facing the program will take years to correct, and as a result, the F-35’s operationally demonstrated suitability for combat will not be known until 2022 at the earliest,” staff with the Project on Government Oversight said of the report in a blog post.
On Friday, Davis noted that the F-35 was not only a capabilities boon for the Marine Corps, but an opportunity to retire aging AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets that are nearing the end of their service lives.
The Marine Corps recently pulled 23 Hornets out of the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to help the service maintain its combat and training presence until more F-35B squadrons are activated. The Marine Corps currently has two active F-35 squadrons, with three more planned to stand up by 2020.
“We’re going to get out of those airplanes as quick as we can,” Davis said. “And the only way we can get out of them is when the F-35s arrive.”
@SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas , Capt Christopher Mueller , CPT (Join to see) , COL Mikel J. Burroughs , Sgt Joe LaBranche , SSgt (Join to see), TSgt Hunter Logan Capt Seid Waddell SrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F. PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom Earley PVT James Strait Alan K. @po1 william "chip" PO1 William "Chip" Nagel @SGT John McConnell SGT John " Mac " McConnell, LTC Stephen C., @sgt robert george SGT Robert George
Marine Corps F-35B Stealth Fighter Is Ready for War, General Says
Posted from defensetech.org
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I had not seen any information about the F-35 since we read a few weeks ago about some problems with the F-35C US Navy versions SP5 Mark Kuzinski.
It is interesting that the F-35 has USAF versions, US Navy carrier landing versions [F-35c] and vertical/lading version for the USMC [F-35B]
In a separate article I read that "Navy officials also said that they’ll have to do refits of the big-deck L-class of helicopter assault ships to accommodate the extreme heat and noise generated by the Marine Corps’ vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B."
"The tailhook and ship overhauls were disclosed at a generally upbeat forum involving Navy, Marine and industry representatives on the status of the F35 program, the most expensive weapons program ever undertaken by the Defense Department.
“There’s a little bit of pressure coming down on our heads” on the F35s, said Vice Adm. David Dunaway, head of the Naval Air Systems Command. “We’re now in the meat of this program where we’re either going to succeed or fail. The Joint Strike Fighter has to fit in — it has to fit into the carrier air wing, and it has to fit into the MAGTF (Marine Air Ground Task Force),” Dunaway said.
“I can promise you that problems will occur” in the process of acquiring 260 F-35C Navy versions of the JSF, and 353 F-35B Marine versions, Dunaway said.
One of the problems was the initial design of the tailhook, which was a challenge for Lockheed Martin in that it had to be concealed within the airplane to enhance its stealth capability.
In testing, the tailhooks were failing to catch the arresting wires that are stretched across a carrier’s flight deck to bring the aircraft to a halt.
“Our original design was not performing as expected,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president for the F35 Lightning II program. Martin said the “toe” of the tailhook, the part that grabs the wire, had been re-designed along with the “hold down damper” gear that forces the tailhook down on the deck.
“It’s now in line with what the legacy aircraft uses,” Martin said of the new F-35 tailhook. She said the new assembly will be tested this summer at the Navy’s Lakehurst, N.J., facility and carrier tests were expected later this year.
Dunaway said he believed Lockheed Martin had found the right tailhook fix before he beck pedaled and said: “I will be a trust but verify person.” Rear Adm. Randollph Mahr, the deputy Program Executive Officer for the F-35, said “I have high confidence that that tailhook will be catching wires at Lakehurst.”
In other testing, the Navy found that its L-class ships would have to be adapted to the F-35, and “ship change notices are going out now to the L-class ships,” said Rear Adm. Mark Darrah, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. “We have to adapt the ships to the new environment” that comes with the F-35s, he said.
The Navy was adding Thermion coating to the flight decks to guard against the heat blast from the vertical-lift engines of the F-35Bs, Darrah said. Additional baffling will be added to the substructure to lower the decibel level below decks, he said.
The $400 billion-plus F-35 program has been hit by a string of technical setbacks and is now running about 70 percent over initial cost estimates and is years behind schedule.
The U.S. still plans to buy 2,443 of the single-seat F-35s – a conventional landing and takeoff F-35A model the Air Force; a short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B version for the Marines, and a carrier-based F-35C version for the Navy.
Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and Turkey have agreed to partner in the F-35 program, but several of the partner nations have been backing away from the deal as problems have mounted in production and testing."
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/04/10/lockheed-promises-tailhook-fix-to-navys-f-35c/
It is interesting that the F-35 has USAF versions, US Navy carrier landing versions [F-35c] and vertical/lading version for the USMC [F-35B]
In a separate article I read that "Navy officials also said that they’ll have to do refits of the big-deck L-class of helicopter assault ships to accommodate the extreme heat and noise generated by the Marine Corps’ vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B."
"The tailhook and ship overhauls were disclosed at a generally upbeat forum involving Navy, Marine and industry representatives on the status of the F35 program, the most expensive weapons program ever undertaken by the Defense Department.
“There’s a little bit of pressure coming down on our heads” on the F35s, said Vice Adm. David Dunaway, head of the Naval Air Systems Command. “We’re now in the meat of this program where we’re either going to succeed or fail. The Joint Strike Fighter has to fit in — it has to fit into the carrier air wing, and it has to fit into the MAGTF (Marine Air Ground Task Force),” Dunaway said.
“I can promise you that problems will occur” in the process of acquiring 260 F-35C Navy versions of the JSF, and 353 F-35B Marine versions, Dunaway said.
One of the problems was the initial design of the tailhook, which was a challenge for Lockheed Martin in that it had to be concealed within the airplane to enhance its stealth capability.
In testing, the tailhooks were failing to catch the arresting wires that are stretched across a carrier’s flight deck to bring the aircraft to a halt.
“Our original design was not performing as expected,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president for the F35 Lightning II program. Martin said the “toe” of the tailhook, the part that grabs the wire, had been re-designed along with the “hold down damper” gear that forces the tailhook down on the deck.
“It’s now in line with what the legacy aircraft uses,” Martin said of the new F-35 tailhook. She said the new assembly will be tested this summer at the Navy’s Lakehurst, N.J., facility and carrier tests were expected later this year.
Dunaway said he believed Lockheed Martin had found the right tailhook fix before he beck pedaled and said: “I will be a trust but verify person.” Rear Adm. Randollph Mahr, the deputy Program Executive Officer for the F-35, said “I have high confidence that that tailhook will be catching wires at Lakehurst.”
In other testing, the Navy found that its L-class ships would have to be adapted to the F-35, and “ship change notices are going out now to the L-class ships,” said Rear Adm. Mark Darrah, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. “We have to adapt the ships to the new environment” that comes with the F-35s, he said.
The Navy was adding Thermion coating to the flight decks to guard against the heat blast from the vertical-lift engines of the F-35Bs, Darrah said. Additional baffling will be added to the substructure to lower the decibel level below decks, he said.
The $400 billion-plus F-35 program has been hit by a string of technical setbacks and is now running about 70 percent over initial cost estimates and is years behind schedule.
The U.S. still plans to buy 2,443 of the single-seat F-35s – a conventional landing and takeoff F-35A model the Air Force; a short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B version for the Marines, and a carrier-based F-35C version for the Navy.
Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and Turkey have agreed to partner in the F-35 program, but several of the partner nations have been backing away from the deal as problems have mounted in production and testing."
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/04/10/lockheed-promises-tailhook-fix-to-navys-f-35c/
Lockheed promises tailhook fix to Navy’s F-35C
The Pentagon plans to test the new tailhook assembly in Lakehurst this summer followed by carrier tests later this year.
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski
Thanks LTC Stephen F. - for now let's just sit back and see what happens. I was also surprised by the article.
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I hadn't realized they fixed all the of the problems that I had been hearing about. I better go back and do some more reading. That is great they are GTG.
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I hope they have been thru Top Gun and Red Flag practices and The Aggressor Air Forces... Unless BHO got rid of them Too...
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