10/15/2015: F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighters assigned to the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 go through flight evolutions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) conducting follow-on sea trials.
Credit:U.S. Navy video/Released:10/3/15
According to Andrea Shalal of Reuters:
The Navy will be the last of the U.S. services to start using the new jets, following the Marine Corps, which declared an initial squadron combat-ready in July, and the Air Force, which is slated to follow suit in August 2016. The Navy is expected to have a first combat-ready squadron in late 2018.
Haley said the F-35 C-model would provide a “huge benefit” to U.S. military commanders in coming years, working in tandem with Boeing Co F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets and EA-18G electronic attack planes for years to come.
He said the jets’ ability to fuse data from a variety of radars and other sensors, and then share it with ships and other aircraft, would change the way the U.S. Navy fights wars.
“The F-35 is going to bring … sensors and an ability to guide the fight, whether it’s an air-to-ground fight or an air-to-air fight.
They’re going to have an ability that’s going to change how we think about getting to the target, delivering weapons and getting out of the target,” Haley said.