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Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets from Strike Fighter Squadron 31 fly a combat patrol over Afghanistan on Dec. 15, 2008. US Air Force Photo
The Navy’s replacement for its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet may not just be a single aircraft but several systems to fill the strike and air warfare missions in the carrier air-wing. Read More
The following is a video of 181 rounds fired through the GAU-22/A of a Lockheed Martin F-35A Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) on Aug. 14, 2015, and released on Thursday. Read More
Lockheed Martin test pilot Billie Flynn puts F-35B test aircraft BF-02 into pre-contact position behind a US Air Force KC-135 tanker on the range near NAS Patuxent River, Md., on 5 September 2014. Photo courtesy F-35 Lightning II Program Office.
The Marine Corps’ Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will have the stealth of a fifth-generation fighter and a weapons payload surpassing a fourth-generation fighter by the time a software upgrade is ready for fielding in 2017, the Marines’ top aviator said this week. Read More
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan (right), the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, Deputy Commandant Aviation, along with distinguished visitors from the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, watch as an F-35B lands on the flight deck of USS Wasp (LHD-1) off the coast of Virginia on May 20, 2015. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps declared initial operational capability on its variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), after a final assessment showed the plane and its crew are not only ready to fight overseas if needed but also maintain and sustain the plane during extended operations. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert and First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy Adm. Sir George Zambellas participate in a moderated talk focused on the future of the British-American naval alliance at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs on July 15, 2015. US Navy Photo
LONDON — Five years ago the Royal Navy was reeling from the impact of the British government’s 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), a financially-driven undertaking that resulted in the scrapping of the last two Invincible-class light aircraft carriers, the withdrawal from service of their Harrier jets, the sale of one amphibious-dock ship and the mothballing of another and severe cuts to the destroyer and frigate force. Read More
An F-35B Lightning II with Marine Operational and Test Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22 prepares to touch down aboard Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Oct. 9. US Marine Corps photo.
A previous version of this story indicated the U.S. Marine Corps flies F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets. In fact, the USMC flies the F/A-18 C/D Hornet. The post has been amended.
PENTAGON – The Marine Corps added one final test before deciding whether to declare initial operational capability for the Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF): a first-ever Operational Readiness Inspection. Read More
An artist’s concept of a proposed Lockheed Martin UCLASS design. Lockheed Martin Image
The Navy’s planned carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will help the service in a transition from manned strike aircraft to a future autonomous strike platform, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said on Wednesday. Read More
Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG-88) underway on April 18, 2015. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee added $120 million to pay for a total of three Aegis combat system upgrades to the Navy’s Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51) as part of the chairman’s mark for the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. Read More
An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter conducts a touch and go landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include a comment from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be “almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly,” signaling key assumptions in the Navy’s aviation future as the service prepares to develop follow-ons to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Read More
F-22 Raptors deployed to Kadena Air Base, Japan, trained with U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets April 26, 2007, near the waters of Okinawa. US Navy Photo
The Navy and the Air Force could team up for their early look into their next crop of fighters due out in 2030, the Navy’s director of air warfare told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
