Friday, January 23, 2015

Is the USMC going to be saddled with providing F-35C's for carriers?

The first F-35C Lightning II for the US Marine Corps was delivered to Eglin AFB, Florida, on 13 January 2015. Marine Lt. Col. J.T. Ryan, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 501 detachment commander, flew the aircraft (Bureau Number 169031) from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to the base near Fort Walton Beach. It is assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101), the US Navy’s only F-35C fleet replacement squadron. This aircraft is the first of five Marine Corps F-35Cs that will be delivered to VFA-101. The delivery marks the beginning of Marine training in the F-35 carrier variant. The first operational Marine Corps F-35C fleet squadron, VMFA-115, is scheduled to stand up at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2019.

Have you been keeping track of the numbers of F-35's the US Navy is planning on deploying with each carrier?  Do you remember the number of F-35C's the USMC is programmed to buy?

Is it possible that the US Navy is going to get out of buying the F-35C by relying on the USMC to provide their carrier wings with the few aircraft needed?  I've speculated that some kind of deal must have been struck for the US Navy to pick the MV-22 for the COD mission and this seems like a trade they'd be willing to make.

One thing we do know.

No one is enthused about the F-35 anymore.  Its seen as a bad plane that must be bought because we've gone too far to turn back now (I totally disagree with that but more on it later).  Everyone from US Senators, to the Commandant of the Marine Corps is unhappy about the situation they find themselves in with regard to this plane.

The cutbacks are coming, the planning for the 6th gen has already begun and the only thing left to do is assign blame for the biggest procurement boondoggle in the history of defense procurement...anywhere.

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