“The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win,” said Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller, commander of Naval Air Forces. “We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force.”
To reach the milestone, the first operational squadron had to be “properly manned, trained and equipped to conduct assigned missions in support of fleet operations,” officials said Thursday.
“This includes having 10 Block 3F, F-35C aircraft, requisite spare parts, support equipment, tools, technical publications, training programs and a functional Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS),” the release states, referring to the latest software variant and software and sustainment system.
The Defense Department’s F-35 Joint Program Office is overseeing efforts to move to the even more advanced Block 4 software, which would give the F-35 an enhanced sensor range and a larger weapons suite sometime in the early 2020s.
In December, the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 “Argonauts” out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, completed a critical milestone aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, a turning point in reaching IOC with a “safe for flight” operation certification.
Officials said declaring IOC was predicated upon the Vinson being equipped with “proper infrastructure, qualifications and certifications.”
The Argonauts are slated to become the service’s first operational F-35C squadron. VFA-147’s first deployment is scheduled aboard the Vinson in 202
The Navy reached its goal on the last day of the month.
“We congratulate the Department of the Navy on achieving Initial Operational Capability with its fleet of F-35Cs,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program, in a statement. “As we celebrate this achievement demonstrating the progress of the F-35 program, we’re also setting our sights forward to ensure the U.S. Navy is ready for its first F-35C deployment.”
The Marine Corps was the first service to reach IOC, declaring its F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant ready for combat in 2015.
The Air Force’s F-35A reached the milestone in 2016.
The F-35 made its combat debut in the Middle East when Israel’s variant conducted strikes in 2018. That September, the Marine Corps’ F-35B had its first combat outing, conducting its first strike in Afghanistan against the Taliban.
The Navy’s milestone comes as it plans to deactivate its F-35 squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and move operations to NAS Lemoore, concentrating its Joint Strike Fighter operations on the West Coast.
The Chinese use to be great innovators many generations ago but they’re devolved into nothing more than prolific thieves.
That’s because the Chinese Govt is trying to take over the South China Sea and building all those Islands so they can have the advantage in all respects and circumventing International Waters in the process …the advantage suits them well however, we won’t allow this to continue and have been monitoring the region exclusively for sometime now with our allies .
I don’t see why the Chinese have to fear the “stealth” on the F-22 or the F-35 US fighter jets because that so-called stealth can be easily detected as both Germany as well as Russian MIG-35 and SU-57 fighter jets has proven.
At the beginning of March 2019, it was clear that the US Air Force had taken home all of its most advanced fifth-generation sneakers F-22 Raptor from bases in the Middle East. These have been replaced by the F-15C Eagle originating in the 1970s.
It turned out when a Russian Su-35S Flanker, a fourth-generation fighter jet, discovered an F-22 with its infrared search and fire control system (IRST) last September 2018.
The incident sent shockwaves through military circuits in general and those who believed sneakers were “invisible” in particular. It raised the question of whether sneak technology is really worth the extreme development, production and maintenance costs associated with US F-22 and F-35.
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The f 22 and f 35 are designed to be invisible to radar not to infrared seeking systems so they were never invisible they were only created as a method of limo sting an enemy before they see you sadly though at the time tour comment is based the f22 had a poor radar detection system allowing an su 37 to sneak by no f 22 or f 35 have been shot down since then f22 and f35 have been equipped with a better radar detection system but even it’s own radar system could have detected a plane but had experienced electrical problems that also occurred on the f 35 Russia’s su 57 you talked about is Russia’s stealth fighter that Russia intended to compete with the f 22 hence it is similarly designed also sadly for you the story you talked about was mock dog fight in which the f22 pilot believed the mock dog fight was over and raised his altitude to super cruise th Russian pilot locked in with is infrared system the is pilot admired he saw the plane on his radar but thought nothing of it because he believes the mock was over if the Russian were to fire a missile th f 22 to has special indication alerting the pilot to set out flares if it’s radar guided it wouldn’t even lock on but since it’s heat seeking it would be chaffed away from the f 22 to in a real situation after the Russian fired a missile the f 22 would have fired a middle even thought the su 37 is behind him this is due to the f22 detection system the reason why th raptor one every long distanc dog fight while still being dominant in short range dog fights while testing with France and England on their new planes the French pilot stated that the f 22 was like a ghost that they saw it with their eyes but they couldn’t spot it on radar and by the time they they think about turning there is already a lock on your plane and lastly if China and Russia shouldn’t be worried why are they making their in stealth fighters if they know they can get spotted by infared