05/27/2015: On May 26, 2015, several journalists flew to the USS WASP aboard an Osprey from the Pentagon to the ship, which was operating off of the North Carolina coast. In addition to viewing the ops of the F-35B aboard the ship, there was opportunity to talk with the crew…
2015-05-27 According to a communication to the journalists who traveled to the USS WASP on May 26, 2012. Major Greenberg, a PAO officer with the USMC provided a helpful update on the operational testing and their progress. "The first phase of shipboard Marine Corps F-35B operational test (OT-1) is in…
2015-05-15 By Robbin Laird At the Copenhagen Airpower Symposium, a major theme was the impact of the F-35 on the transformation of airpower for the smaller or medium sized air forces. The coming of the F-35 was gaining momentum, and now those airpowers which are procuring the F-35, are thinking…
2015-05-24 The first photos show an F-35B Lightning during flight operations aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). There are six F-35Bs aboard the ship, 4 from Yuma (Green Knights) and two from Beaufort (the Warlords). [maxgallery id="77762"] USS Wasp, with VMFA-121 and VMFAT-501 embarked, is underway conducting…
by Robbin Laird © 2015 FrontLine Defence (Vol 12, No 3) The tragic May 9th crash of an A400M (MSN 23), near the Airbus final assembly plant near Seville, Spain, reminds us of how risky the introduction of new systems can be. Due to be delivered to the Turkish Air…
2015-05-23 By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade on March 17, 2015, I had a chance to interview Major General Richard L. Simcock II, Commanding General, 2d MEB, and Major Marcus Mainz, lead 2d MEB planner for Exercise Bold Alligator 2014, where we had a lengthy…
2015-05-22 According to the CO of the Warlords, Lt. Col. Bachmann, there has been rapid progress over the past two years as the Marines prepared their aircraft for integration with the MAGTF. When I last interviewed OD Bachmann, he had just flown the 200th sortie of the aircraft. Fast forward…
2015-05-22 Six aircraft arrived for the opening of OT-1 (first phase of operational testing) on May 18, 2015 aboard the USS Wasp. The six aircraft are from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, Marine Aircraft Group 31, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Beaufort, South Carolina, and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121,…
