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…

Exercise Croix du Sud 2016

11/26/2016
11/26/2016: Exercise Croix du Sud (CDS) is a medium size tactical multi-national Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), Non-combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) and Stability and Security Operations (SASO) Field Training Exercise (FTX) being held in the vicinity of Noumea, New Caledonia from 07 – 18 November 2016. Ex CDS16 is…