F-35B Lightning II Completes Operations Aboard USS America (LHA 6): 2

12/09/2016
12/09/2016: PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River ITF’s…

F-35B Lightning II Operations Aboard USS America (LHA 6) Wrap Up

12/06/2016
12/06/2016: PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River ITF’s…

The Marines Onboard the USS America: The Remaking of the Amphibious Strike Force

12/05/2016
2016-12-04 By Todd Miller “We’d always say ‘if its really a bad air to air (A2A) threat, get some additional jets up there, get some more capability.’  I have no pause or hesitation that this jet will dominate in an A2A environment, would dominate in a strike environment, dominate in…

DTIII Testing for F-35B: November 5, 2016

11/29/2016
2016-11-29 DTIII Testing for F-35B: Working an Integrated MAGTF at Sea The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft. USS America, with VMX-1, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) embarked, are underway conducting operational testing and…

The Next Phase for the F-35B: Empowering the Sea-Base

11/29/2016
2016-11-29 By Todd Miller The US Marine Corps (USMC) F-35 program is accelerating rapidly, and deployment is underway. Second Line of Defense had the opportunity to see the progress in action during a “Proof of Concept” demonstration on the USS America off the coast of Southern California November 18-20, 2016.…

DTIII Testing for F-35B: November 4, 2016

11/28/2016
2016-11-28 The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft. USS America, with VMX-1, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) embarked, are underway conducting operational testing and the third phase of developmental testing for the F-35B…

DTIII Testing for F-35B: November 3, 2016

11/27/2016
2016-11-27  DTIII Testing for F-35B: Working an Integrated MAGTF at Sea The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft. USS America, with VMX-1, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) embarked, are underway conducting operational testing…