Tag Archives: joint strike fighter

HASC: Congress Let DoD Buy Too Many F-35 Fighters But Not Enough F-35 Spares, Sustainment

HASC: Congress Let DoD Buy Too Many F-35 Fighters But Not Enough F-35 Spares, Sustainment

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Cosme Zamora, from Compton, Calif., assigned to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6), signals an F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on the ship’s flight deck on Jan. 21, 2021. US Navy Photo

The House Armed Services Committee has little appetite for buying any F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes beyond the official Biden administration request – in contrast to the past seven years, when Congress has added a whopping 97 planes beyond the president’s budget request – as a result of low readiness rates and ongoing maintenance and supply challenges. Read More

First Marine Corps Carrier-Capable F-35C Squadron Now Ready to Deploy

First Marine Corps Carrier-Capable F-35C Squadron Now Ready to Deploy

U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, gain the capability of conducting a hot-load of ordnance on an F-35C Lightning II, while being validated at south combat aircraft loading area, during the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 1-21, at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., on Oct. 6, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps’ first carrier-capable squadron of F-35C Lightning II jets reached initial operational capability on Tuesday, a key certification ahead of its first deployment on an aircraft carrier, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing officials announced. Read More

Senate FY 21 Authorization Bill Buys 7 Ships, Adds Oversight on Future Unmanned Air and Surface Ships

Senate FY 21 Authorization Bill Buys 7 Ships, Adds Oversight on Future Unmanned Air and Surface Ships

USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries – Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Pascagoula shipyard to conduct comprehensive at-sea testing on Feb. 3, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act keeps shipbuilding in line with the Navy’s budget request from February but adds additional oversight to the service’s plans for unmanned ships and unmanned aviation, committee staffers told reporters on Thursday. Read More

First Marine F-35C Squadron Certified Safe for Flight

First Marine F-35C Squadron Certified Safe for Flight

The first Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 “Black Knights” F-35C aircraft from Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore flown by CAPT Tommy Beau Locke from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125 “Rough Raiders” flies in formation over the Sierra’s with the VFMA-314 squadron F/A-18A++, flown by LtCol Cedar Hinton aircraft “passing the lead” as part of the F/A-18 Sundown with the Black Knights. US Navy photo.

The first Marine Corps F-35C carrier-variant Joint Strike Fighter squadron reached an important milestone, receiving a “safe for flight” operations certification that will allow them to train and operate independently of the Navy’s fleet replacement squadron. Read More

Top Stories 2019: U.S. Navy Acquisition

Top Stories 2019: U.S. Navy Acquisition

This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.

2019 started with a surprise in the Navy budget request: the service needed to buy and test unmanned surface vehicles immediately to reach its ultimate goals for the surface force, and it was willing to sacrifice almost anything – including sidelining an aircraft carrier – to free up the funds to do so. Read More