The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter picture will become clearer under an updated interservice agreement set to be signed March 14, according to a senior defense official.
The Tactical Air memorandum of understanding ratifies the Navy Department's plan to buy 680 F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters (JSF), and details the exact mix of variants and who will fly them. Of the total, 260 will be Navy F-35C carrier-based aircraft, 80 will be Marine F-35Cs, and 340 will be Marine F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) planes.
The agreement also reaffirms that Marine F-35Bs and F-35Cs will continue to rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings, sharing commitments with Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35Cs. The Marines will raise the number of carrier-capable squadrons from three to five.
The agreement formalizes an earlier decision not to deploy F-35Bs from carriers, but rather to have all Marine squadrons deploying on carriers flying the same C version as their Navy compatriots. The STOVLs will operate from land bases and amphibious ships.
The first Navy F-35C carrier squadron is set to stand up in December 2015, with the first Marine F-35C squadron following a year later.
By the mid-2020s, according to Navy planners, each carrier air wing will include two Super Hornet squadrons and two Lightning II squadrons. Every fourth F-35C squadron will be a Marine unit.
The Navy continues to plan for a fleet of 10 carrier air wings, with 44 strike fighters per wing, organized into 10- and 12-plane squadrons. The Navy will field 35 strike fighter squadrons composed of Super Hornets or F-35Cs, and the Marines will field five F-35C squadrons.
Ultimately, the Lightnings will serve alongside a fleet of 556 F/A-18 Es and Fs.
There is no intention to field an all-F-35 strike fighter force with any carrier air wing, a senior Navy official said. A new, sixth-generation aircraft will be developed as a follow-on to the F-35, and those aircraft will replace the Super Hornets, the official said. Characteristics of the new aircraft - including whether it will be manned, unmanned or optionally manned - have yet to be determined, the official said.
Development of the STOVL version has hit a number of engineering snags, including weight, power and heat issues, and the program is currently on a two-year Pentagon "probation" to solve those issues.
Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said he believes those issues can be solved before that time, and that the Corps remains committed to the STOVL version.
The Marine F-35s will replace all aircraft in 19 strike fighter squadrons - 12 squadrons flying 261 F/A-18 Hornets, and seven squadrons flying 145 AV-8B Harrier jump jets. All of the current aircraft in those squadrons are to be phased out by 2023.
The new agreement also will relieve the Navy of the need to supply a Hornet squadron to meet Marine land-based expeditionary needs. Those aircraft deploy under the Unit Deployment Program to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Seven Marine F-35B squadrons will eventually handle those duties.
The updated agreement, a senior Marine official said, also provides for nine F-35B squadrons to work with the seven Marine Expeditionary Units that deploy aboard Navy amphibious ready groups.
Five Reserve squadrons will also fly strike fighters. Three Marine Reserve squadrons will fly the F-35B, one Navy Reserve squadron will operate the F-35C, and one other Navy Reserve squadron will fly single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornets.
Renewal of the Tac-Air agreement, the senior defense official said, allows planners to begin working out more detailed schedules of when individual squadrons will switch to the new aircraft.
The agreement reaffirms that Marine F-35Cs will rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings. All F-35Bs will be ground-based. (U.S. Navy)
The agreement also reaffirms that Marine F-35Bs and F-35Cs will continue to rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings, sharing commitments with Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35Cs. The Marines will raise the number of carrier-capable squadrons from three to five.
The agreement formalizes an earlier decision not to deploy F-35Bs from carriers, but rather to have all Marine squadrons deploying on carriers flying the same C version as their Navy compatriots. The STOVLs will operate from land bases and amphibious ships.
The first Navy F-35C carrier squadron is set to stand up in December 2015, with the first Marine F-35C squadron following a year later.
By the mid-2020s, according to Navy planners, each carrier air wing will include two Super Hornet squadrons and two Lightning II squadrons. Every fourth F-35C squadron will be a Marine unit.
The Navy continues to plan for a fleet of 10 carrier air wings, with 44 strike fighters per wing, organized into 10- and 12-plane squadrons. The Navy will field 35 strike fighter squadrons composed of Super Hornets or F-35Cs, and the Marines will field five F-35C squadrons.
Ultimately, the Lightnings will serve alongside a fleet of 556 F/A-18 Es and Fs.
There is no intention to field an all-F-35 strike fighter force with any carrier air wing, a senior Navy official said. A new, sixth-generation aircraft will be developed as a follow-on to the F-35, and those aircraft will replace the Super Hornets, the official said. Characteristics of the new aircraft - including whether it will be manned, unmanned or optionally manned - have yet to be determined, the official said.
STOVL Issues
Carrier planners have long wrestled with the issue of integrating the F-35B STOVL onto flight decks. The aircraft are not designed for catapult launch, and would require specific launch-and-recovery operations apart from other aircraft types flown from the ships, the senior Navy official said. They also have different range and ordnance-carrying capabilities than the carrier version. Development of the STOVL version has hit a number of engineering snags, including weight, power and heat issues, and the program is currently on a two-year Pentagon "probation" to solve those issues.
Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said he believes those issues can be solved before that time, and that the Corps remains committed to the STOVL version.
The Marine F-35s will replace all aircraft in 19 strike fighter squadrons - 12 squadrons flying 261 F/A-18 Hornets, and seven squadrons flying 145 AV-8B Harrier jump jets. All of the current aircraft in those squadrons are to be phased out by 2023.
The new agreement also will relieve the Navy of the need to supply a Hornet squadron to meet Marine land-based expeditionary needs. Those aircraft deploy under the Unit Deployment Program to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Seven Marine F-35B squadrons will eventually handle those duties.
The updated agreement, a senior Marine official said, also provides for nine F-35B squadrons to work with the seven Marine Expeditionary Units that deploy aboard Navy amphibious ready groups.
Five Reserve squadrons will also fly strike fighters. Three Marine Reserve squadrons will fly the F-35B, one Navy Reserve squadron will operate the F-35C, and one other Navy Reserve squadron will fly single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornets.
Renewal of the Tac-Air agreement, the senior defense official said, allows planners to begin working out more detailed schedules of when individual squadrons will switch to the new aircraft.
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