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Marines with the Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Bats Squadron 242 (VMFA (AW)-242 Bats), Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing before taking off in the F/A-18D Hornet at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan on Nov. 21, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marines have identified the F/A-18D Hornet pilot who died in a hospital after a crash with a KC-130J off the coast of Japan. Read More
Marines with the Joint Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, prepare for take-off aboard a KC-130J Hercules aircraft on Kadena Air Force Base on Sept. 27, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo
A Marine recovered from a crash between a Marine F-18D Hornet Fighter and a KC-130J transport aircraft off the coast of Japan has died in the hospital, according to a statement from the service. Read More
An F/A-18D Hornet with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242 and a KC-130J Hercules with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 conduct simulated aerial refueling during the 41st Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force – Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Friendship Day at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, May 5, 2017. US Marine Corps photo.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
Two Marine Corps aircraft have been involved in a mishap off the coast of Japan, according to a Marine Corps news release. Read More
A KC-130J with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 descends before landing during a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command aerial refueling exercise, Oct. 13, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
A Marine Corps KC-130J on a training mission experienced a loss of pressure at 21,000 feet on Aug. 15, leading to five personnel developing decompression sickness symptoms. Read More
Four F-35B Lightning II aircraft perform a flyover above the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on Nov. 20, 2016. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act piles on more ships and aircraft over the Pentagon’s request in a plan that spends more than $20 billion above the Trump administration’s request, according to an executive summary of the legislation that the SASC issued on Wednesday night. Read More
The aft mast lands on the future amphibious transport dock Portland (LPD-27) in August 2015. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
The House Armed Services Committee released its Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act language this evening, in a bill that spends billions more than the Navy had asked for on five additional ships and more than two dozen additional aircraft. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
House and Senate appropriators reached an agreement to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year that includes a $593-billion defense spending package to allow the Navy and Marine Corps to continue with planned ship and aircraft procurement and readiness increases. Read More
U.S. Marine Corps pilots maneuver a CH-53K King Stallion as it delivers a 12,000 pound external load after completing a 110 nautical mile mission during the two-week initial operational test (OT-B1) conducted at Sikorsky. Sikorsky photo.
The Marine Corps’ top financial officer told lawmakers that the service considers its modernization programs properly balanced between aviation and ground needs, while acknowledging that there hasn’t been enough money in recent years to buy the ground assets at a proper pace. Read More
The following is a Feb. 23 2017 U.S. Marine Corps video of a CH-53E Super Stallion from Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 refueling midair from a Marine KC-130J Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234. Read More
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Cartwright, an infantry Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, launches the Instant Eye MK-2 Gen 3 unmanned aerial system during an exercise for Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Marine Air-Ground Task Force Integrated Experiment on Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 9, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2016.
With the Navy releasing a “Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority” and the Marines releasing a Marine Corps Operational Concept in 2016 that both call for high-end technologies to succeed in a contested maritime environment, Marine Corps acquisition this year was focused on increasing lethality, situational awareness and maneuverability for the force. Read More
