Valiant Shield 18

09/28/2018
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, U.S. Navy C-130 Hercules and P-8 Poseidon will join more than 160 other aircraft during exercise Valiant Shield 2018 in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Valiant Shield is a biennial, U.S. only, field training…

US-Australian Enhanced Air Cooperation Initiative

09/26/2018
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-130J Hercules refuels a United States Marine Corps (USMC) MV-22 Osprey at RAAF Base Darwin, as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) initiative.  This refuelling trial was the first time the EAC initiative has integrated with aviation capabilities not assigned to the United…

VMFA-121 Operating from the USS Wasp

09/25/2018
A detachment of F-35B Lightning II's with Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) arrived aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) March 5, marking the first time the aircraft has deployed aboard a U.S. Navy ship and with a Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Indo-Asian-Pacific. The F-35B, assigned under…

USMC Sustainment Training

09/24/2018
OAHU - U.S. Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), conduct Sustainment Training Exercise, July 20, 2018, Hawaii.  This training allowed Marines and Sailors to sustain skills developed during a comprehensive six-month pre deployment training cycle, and included planning and executing ship-to-shore operations, company-sized…

A Japanese ASW Task Force Ventures Into the South China Sea

09/20/2018
The Japanese Self Defense force rarely mentions the operations of their submarines, short of participating in an exercise with the United States. But in a recent announcement by the Japanese, they highlighted that the Kuroshio, the helicopter carrier Kaga and two other destroyers, the Inazuma and Suzutsuki, conducted an antisubmarine…

Northern Strike 2018

09/20/2018
Multi-Agency watercraft simulate multiple maritime water range exercise scenarios, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, at Alpena CRTC water range over Lake Huron during exercise Northern Strike 18. Northern Strike 18 is a National Guard Bureau-sponsored exercise uniting service members from many states, multiple service branches and a number of coalition countries…

Lift Works Opens in UK to Support the F-35

09/19/2018
The UK and the US Marines are the major users for now for the F-35B, although the demand for enhanced operational mobility by air faces direct threats to their land bases will almost certainly lead to others joining the ranks of F-35B users. This week the UK MoD announced the…

Lightning Strikes at Valiant Shield 2018

09/19/2018
"The high-end biennial Valiant Shield exercise kicked off in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Sunday, with some of the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ most advanced platforms participating in the weeklong event. "The exercise – a high-end, U.S.-only follow-up to the large-scale multi-national Rim of the Pacific exercise every…