US Marine Corps (USMC)

Citation :

Sunday, April 19, 2020

U.S. Marine Corps M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle exits a U.S. Navy Landing Craft Utility on Camp Lejeune, N.C....Photos by Staff Sgt. Mark Morrow    






https://www.snafu-solomon.com/2020/04/us-marine-corps-m1150-assault-breacher.html  

Citation :

25.04.2020

Le Marine Corps va commander un nouveau "Tropical Combat Uniform"



L'USMC est à la recherche d'une tenue de combat qui soit plus légère, qui sèche rapidement et qui permettent de meilleurs échanges entre le corps et l'environnement ("lighter weight, faster drying, and breathable").

Ce Marine Corps Tropical Combat Uniform (MCTCU) sera une extrapolation de l'actuel Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU); il comportera un pantalon et une chemise avec le camouflage Woodland (le fameux Woodland Marine Corps Pattern ou MARPAT). Ce sera donc avant tout une question de tissu et moins de coupe.

Le Corps privilégie un tissu, bien sûr traité contre les moustiques, mais surtout dont les qualités permettront aux soldats d'être plus à l'aise dans les environnements chauds et humides.

70 000 tenues devraient être commandées dans un premier temps.

Une tenue fournie par la société SourceAmerica, de Vienna (Virginie) a déjà été testée par les marines du 3rd Battalion (3rd Marine Regiment) à Hawaï et au Japon. 2 600 uniformes avaient été livrés en juin 2019 pour deux mois de tests.



L'an dernier, en août, l'USMS avait attribué deux marchés pour des chaussures de combat (tropical boots). 140 000 paires avaient été alors commandées à Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., et à Provengo LLC. Lafacture avait été de 25 milllions de $


http://lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr/archive/2020/04/24/le-marine-corps-veut-un-nouveau-tropical-combat-uniform-21098.html

Citation :

KONGSBERG’s MCT-30 Turret Selected for US Marine Corps ACV Program

 05:01 PM, May 13, 2020


Kongsberg Turret on BAE Systems' ACV-30


German firm AS KONGSBERG has been selected by BAE Systems to design and manufacture the remote Medium Caliber Turret (MCT) for the United States Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) -30 program.

KONGSBERG will deliver up to 150 MCTs in a phased program as part of this contract. Test article delivery will commence early 2021 followed by production phases, the company said in a release

The KONGSBERG MCT-30 is the first remotely operated 30mm turret to be qualified and fielded in the United States. The system provides highly accurate firepower for wheeled or tracked combat vehicles.

It is remotely controlled and operated from a protected position inside the vehicle compartment for optimized crew safety. The MCT-30 leverages a link-less medium caliber cannon providing lethality, extremely high reliability and multi-user functions to the Marine Corps ACV and other platforms.

The US Army, in 2015, chose KONGSBERG’s MCT-30 to increase the lethality of the Stryker Brigade in Europe. The system has been fielded and operated with the Army as part of the European Deterrence Initiative since 2018.

https://www.defenseworld.net/news/26974/KONGSBERG___s_MCT_30_Turret_Selected_for_US_Marine_Corps_ACV_Program#.Xrxe3KYw_IU

Citation :

Un Marine mort lors d'un accident au large de la Californie, huit disparus


Los Angeles, 31 juil 2020 (AFP) -

Un Marine américain est mort lors d'un accident de véhicule militaire amphibie au large des côtes californiennes, deux autres sont blessés et huit sont portés disparus, a déclaré l'armée vendredi.

Deux Marines ont été transportés dans des hôpitaux locaux, l'un dans un état critique et l'autre dans un état stable, de même source.

D'importantes opérations sont en cours pour retrouver les huit militaires portés disparus.

Huit autres ont été retrouvés --dont le Marine décédé et les deux blessés-- pour un total de 16 personnes à bord du véhicule au moment de l'accident, qui est survenu lors d'un exercice de routine.

Le véhicule a signalé qu'il était en train de prendre l'eau jeudi à environ 17H45 heure locale (00H45 GMT), dans les environs de l'île San Clemente, au large de la ville de San Diego, dans le sud de la Californie.

Une enquête est en cours pour déterminer la cause de l'accident.

"Nous sommes profondément attristés par ce tragique accident", a déclaré le colonel Christopher Bronzi, cité dans un communiqué.

Le nom du Marine décédé ne sera pas rendu public avant 24 heures, le temps d'avertir ses proches.

https://www.marine-oceans.com/actualites/20641-un-marine-mort-lors-d-un-accident-au-large-de-la-californie-huit-disparus

Citation :

 10 September 2020

New generation LCACs arrive at NSWC Panama City

by Richard Scott


The first two new-generation Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) craft procured under the US Navy (USN) Ship-to-Shore
Connector (SSC) programme have arrived at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Panama City Division (NSWC PCD)
to support ongoing research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) activity.


LCAC 100 (foreground) and LCAC 101 arrived at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division on 2 September.
(Ron Newsome/US Navy)

Arriving on 2 September, the two craft – LCAC 100 and LCAC 101 – were escorted in by LCAC 91, which serves as NSWC PCD’s existing RDT&E asset.

Intended to replace the USN’s current LCAC connectors, the new LCAC 100 class is designed to transport personnel, weapons, vehicles, and stores from amphibious vessels to shore at high speed. The SSC programme of record is for one test and training asset and 72 operational craft.

Textron Systems was in July 2012 awarded a USD212.7 million fixed-priced incentive-fee contract for the detail design and construction of the SSC test and training craft (LCAC 100). The company subsequently received follow-on orders for LCAC 101–108, and in April this year received a contract for LCAC 109–123.

However, the SSC programme has encountered developmental difficulties. The construction of LCAC 100 ran late, and builders trials in September 2019 revealed a series of deficiencies requiring remediation. In a report released in June, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that gearbox problems and other technical issues had delayed initial operational capability (IOC) and created “uncertainty in the production schedule”. The navy’s fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget request suggests that IOC will now not occur until the second quarter of FY 2022.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/new-generation-lcacs-arrive-at-nswc-panama-city  

Fox-One a écrit:

Il nous les faut ce genre de bateaux de d'embarquement

Citation :

Un F-35B de l’US Marine Corps s’est écrasé après une collision avec un avion-ravitailleur KC-130J

par Laurent Lagneau · 30 septembre 2020



Le ravitaillement en vol est toujours un exercice délicat : le chasseur-bombardier qui doit recevoir du carburant arrive systématiquement par le bas et par la gauche de l’avion-ravitailleur. Ensuite, il doit insérer sa perche de ravitaillement dans un panier entonnoir, situé à l’extrémité d’un tuyau et maintenir, malgré les turbulences, cette position pendant plusieurs minutes [le temps dépend du débit du carburant]. Une fois le transfert de kérosène effectué, il retire ensuite sa perche du panier dans l’axe [pour éviter la casse] puis repart par le haut et par la droite.

S’il arrive qu’un chasseur-bombardier casse sa perche, il est très rare d’en voir entrer en collision avec l’avion qui doit le ravitailler en carburant. Cela s’est cependant produit en décembre 2018, quand un F/A-18D Hornet et un KC-130J Hercules se percutèrent lors d’une phase de ravitaillement en vol à environ 160 nautiques des côtes japonaises. L’accident avait fait six morts, dont l’un des pilotes du chasseur-bombardier et les cinq membres de l’équipage de l’avion-ravitailleur.

Et un tel accident a de nouveau eu lieu le 29 septembre, vers 16h00 [heure du Pacifique], avec n F-35B du 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing et un KC-130J Hercules du Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 [VMGR-352], au-dessus de la Californie.

Après la collision, le pilote du F-35B s’est éjecté tandis que le KC-130J, avec les moteurs trois et quatre en panne, a dû atterrir sur le ventre dans un champ alors qu’il tentait de rejoindre l’aéroport régional de Therma, au nord-est de San Diego.



Citation :

By my count this thing should have about 3 more propellers, 1 more refueling pod, and 1 more aileron. pic.twitter.com/oK5t8mzAy3

— essential-ish turbonerd (@overdesigned) September 30, 2020

Via un communiqué, l’US Marine Corps [USMC] a indiqué que le pilote du F-35B a été récupéré sain et sauf, puis placé sous observation médicale. Quant à l’équipage du KC-130J, il en a été quitte pour une grosse frayeur. Il est probable que, avant de se poser en catastrophe, il il ait effectué une « opération de délestage », consistant à vider ses réservoirs [mais rien n’a été dit à ce sujet, ndlr]

« La cause officielle de l’accident fait actuellement l’objet d’une enquête. Des mises à jour seront fournies au fur et à mesure que les informations seront disponibles », a sobrement indiqué l’USMC.

Il s’agit du second F-35B perdu par les Marines. Le premier accident, impliquant un appareil du Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 [VMFAT-501], a eu lieu il y a deux ans, presque jour pour jour, à à environ 8 km de la base de Beaufort [Caroline du Sud]. L’enquête a depuis déterminé qu’un défaut de fabrication d’une durite de carburant en avait été la cause.

http://www.opex360.com/2020/09/30/un-f-35b-de-lus-marine-corps-sest-ecrase-apres-une-collision-avec-un-avion-ravitailleur-kc-130j/

Citation :

31/10/2020

Des King Stallion supplémentaires pour l’USMC !



Sikorsky (groupe Lockheed Martin) construira six hélicoptères CH-53K « King Stallion » dans le cadre d'un nouveau contrat pour la marine américaine. Le nouvel hélicoptère soutiendra le Corps des Marines des États-Unis (USMC) dans sa mission consistant à effectuer le transport d'assaut expéditionnaire de véhicules blindés, de matériel et de personnel pour soutenir les opérations réparties dans les profondeurs des terres à partir d'un centre d'opérations en mer.

Les six hélicoptères font partie du programme d'enregistrement de 200 nouveaux hélicoptères pour le Corps des Marines des États-Unis, et leur ajout fait un total de 24 CH-53K maintenant sous contrat.

Aux termes de ce dernier contrat, connu sous le nom de lot 4 de production initiale à faible taux (LRIP), Sikorsky commencera les livraisons des six appareils en janvier 2024.

Le CH-53K "King Stallion" :

Bien que conçu de la même taille que les CH-53E « Super Stallion », qu’il doit remplacer à partir de 2021, le CH-53K permettra de tripler la capacité de transport de charge externe à plus de 27’000 lb sur une distance de plus de 110 miles nautiques. Doté d’une nouvelle motorisation General-Electric GE38-1B offrant un meilleur couple surmonté d’un rotor de quatrième génération en composite. La cellule est également nouvelle, car entièrement en matériaux composites. Encore plus puissante (ses 3 turbines délivrent environ 7'500ch chacune), ravitaillable en vol, équipé de systèmes de communications de dernière génération, le CH-53K est optimisé pour le transport par temps chaud en opérant à partir de terrains peu préparés et devient la référence de sa catégorie. En matière de transport, le CH-53K peut par exemple emporter en interne une Jeep « Humvee ».



Photos : 1 Le CH53k est une grue volante 2 le CH-53K @ Sikorsky

http://psk.blog.24heures.ch/archive/2020/10/31/des-king-stallion-supplementaires-pour-l-usmc-869981.html

JOSEPH TREVITHICK - The Drive a écrit:

Marine Corps Boss Has Big Plans To Get Into The Business Of Hunting And Killing Submarines

Marines could find themselves searching for and attacking enemy submarines, as well as indirectly supporting other anti-submarine operations.

General David Berger, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, recently laid out a bold vision for his service to organize and prepare itself, at least in part, for a new mission, anti-submarine warfare, as part of equally new and rapidly evolving distributed and expeditionary warfare concepts of operations. In recent years, the top Marine officer has already initiated a dramatic overhaul of his forces, including eliminating heavy armored units and their tanks, and has called for a major rethinking of how they fight, including a push to significantly reduce its reliance on traditional U.S. Navy amphibious warfare ships.

Berger explained how the future Marine Corps could also contribute to anti-submarine operations in an article published in the November 2020 edition of the U.S. Naval Institute's magazine Proceedings. He said that this mission set was among those that Marines could carry out while conducting broader distributed and expeditionary operations as part of his service's still relatively new Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept.

At its most basic, EABO envisions Marine units rapidly establishing forward operating bases across a broad area from which they can conduct various missions and then disestablishing them just as quickly, relocating, and repeating the process elsewhere. In principle, this creates a dynamic battlespace across a huge geographical expanse that makes it difficult for opponents to prioritize threats and adequately respond to them. You can read more about this in-depth in this previous War Zone piece.

"As Chinese and Russian undersea warfare capabilities continue to improve, logistics and other supporting operations for U.S. ASW forces will grow in importance," Berger wrote in Proceedings. "Integrating cross-domain ASW [anti-submarine warfare] operations into the Marine Corps’ expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO) concept could enable the joint force to sustain or widen its advantage in ASW."



The Marine Corps Commandant is certainly not the first within the U.S. military to sound the alarm about increasing Russian and Chinese submarine and other underwater activity, as well as both countries' development of improved submarines and new undersea capabilities, and the challenges and threats that they represent. The Navy has been particularly outspoken in recent years about the dangers it sees in a new "Fourth Battle of the Atlantic," though these same issues also apply to the Arctic and Pacific regions, as well.

"Nearly two years ago, my predecessor, former Commandant General Robert Neller, drew applause at the 2019 Naval Institute/AFCEA WEST Conference when he said, 'We’re going to have to fight to get to the fight,' and, 'I think we’re going to need more submarines' in a fight against a peer adversary," Berger added. "While those were bold statements from a Marine general, I am ready to take that line of thinking even further. The undersea fight will be so critical in the High North and in the western Pacific that the Marine Corps must be part of it."

In his article, Berger described a variety of different ways in which Marines could contribute directly to hunting and killing submarines from forward bases in the future.

When it comes to finding submarines, the Commandant noted that Marine unmanned aircraft could potentially deploy sonobuoy arrays and other anti-submarine warfare sensors in the waters around an expeditionary outpost. This could be a tall order for the Corps' existing RQ-21 Blackjack drones, but the service is actively working toward acquiring more capable, longer-range unmanned capabilities.

The service has two MQ-9 Reapers on order now and is training personnel to operate them already. General Atomics, the Reaper's manufacturer, already offers the Sea Guardian variant of this unmanned aircraft configured for maritime surveillance missions with a large surface search radar and been exploring adding anti-submarine capabilities to the design, including underwing sonobuoy dispensers. In 2017, one of these drones also demonstrated its ability to serve as a relay for data from sonobuoys other aircraft and helicopters might deploy. The Marines also see their Reapers as a stepping stone to fielding other larger unmanned aircraft.



In addition, though Berger doesn't specifically mention it, manned aircraft, such as the service's KC-130 Hercules tanker-transporters and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors, and helicopters could also contribute and might be better suited to rapidly deploying components of a more robust anti-submarine sensor array.

Just in October, the Marine announced that, for the first time ever, it had used an MV-22 to deploy oceanographic sensors, used to gather important environmental data to support amphibious operations planning, from an MV-22 as part of an exercise. Typically, C-130 variants have been used to drop these systems in the past.

“Using the MV-22 to deploy these sensors not only greatly expands when and where oceanographic data can be collected, but having the capability to organically deploy these sensors, can ensure that the data most relevant to the Marine Corps is captured,” Steven Jayne, a senior scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who took part in the demonstration, said afterward in a statement. “Because of how accurate the sensors are, commanders can ensure a safer environment for future amphibious operations.”

It's also worth mentioning that a 2016 "toolkit" describing various notional future concepts for Marine planners to use in tabletop wargames around the EABO concept also included potential methods for the emplacement of bi-static and multi-static sonar arrays via aircraft or personnel on the ground. The expectation was that Navy personnel would operate these systems.




With these organic means of detecting submarines in place, as well as information from networks linked to other anti-submarine elements, including those within the Navy and those operated by allies and partners, Marines could then engage any undersea threats they detect. This could be done using Marine manned aircraft, drones, or helicopters armed with traditional lightweight torpedoes, according to Berger.

The 2016 wargame toolkit also specifically raised the possibility of using armed MV-22s in the anti-submarine warfare role. From the very beginning of the Osprey program there had also been talk of developing an anti-submarine variant using a roll-on/roll-off kit, that would add capabilities such as dipping sonar, with the Navy going so far as to reserve the designation SV-22A for this version. Other weapons, including torpedoes with stand-off wing kits and anti-submarine mines might also be options to increase the anti-submarine capabilities of Marine manned and unmanned aircraft.



More interestingly, Berger also described the possibility of employing "ground-launched ASW missiles." Though he did not describe what this kind of system would consist of, the Indian military recently tested a weapon that would seem to fit this general description called the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART). SMART is a supersonic missile that carries a lightweight torpedo instead of a more traditional warhead and releases this payload after arriving at a designated target area.



The Marine wargaming toolkit from 2016 also included notes on possibly tethering an unspecified launch platform with the RUM-139 Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (VL-ASROC), which is presently in service with the Navy, in some way to an expeditionary Marine Corps network. A ground-launched version of VL-ASROC could certainly be something Berger has in mind, as well, but the ship-launched version has a maximum range of just around 15 nautical miles. As such, this could valuable for littoral defense around a forward operating location, but it could be necessary to extend that range for the system to be more useful in a distributed, expeditionary environment. India's SMART is expected to be able to carry its torpedo out to areas up to 400 miles away.

It's important to note that Berger's new Marine Corps force structure already focuses heavily on expanding the service's land-based anti-ship and land-attack missile capabilities, including ground-launched Tomahawk and Naval Strike Missile (NSM) cruise missiles. There are also plans for a multi-purpose, unmanned launcher vehicle, called Remotely Operated Ground Unit Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE Fires), to employ these weapons, among others. ROGUE Fires will combine the chassis of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) with a launcher derived from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Semi-hidden in back of Oshkosh Defense booth at Modern Day Marine is first ever concept art of JLTV ROGUE Fires, emerging USMC tech study to place HIMARS on JLTV @ShephardNews pic.twitter.com/XrmSewA45o

— Scott Gourley (@ScottGourley1) September 26, 2018

The Marine Corps officer's vision isn't limited to this kind of direct action against enemy submarines. His piece in Proceedings underscored how Marines operating from forward bases could also provide anti-air and anti-ship capabilities to neutralize or otherwise mitigate threats to other anti-submarine warfare assets in the air and at sea, including the Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes.

He also pointed out the increasing threats to established U.S. bases during a major conflict, an issue that the U.S. military, as a whole, has been grappling with in recent years, which will demand greater focus on distributed operations to make it more difficult for opponents to target American forces and disrupt their operations. The Marine Corps' EABO concept is already focused on this kind of warfare and Berger highlighted how those outposts could potentially serve as forwarding bases for other anti-submarine warfare assets or as logistics nodes to support other nearby locations where those assets might be operating from.

The 2016 wargaming tool kit included an entry on one possible concept involving a shore-based Navy SH/MH-60 Seahawk detachment flying from a Marine forward base and conducting local anti-submarine operations, as well as anti-surface warfare (ASUW) and other missions. The document described this "ASW/ASUW Hunter Killer / Pouncer Team" as being "like when ship based, operates as the striking, search and localization arm of the other local ASW and associated Expeditionary sensor units."



There's also the possibility that, depending on how the Marine Corps might ultimately deploy the various capabilities in question, that the service could be able to contribute to the anti-submarine warfare fight from the decks of amphibious warfare ships or sea bases. The Marines have already demonstrated the ability to employ HIMARS in this way from the deck of San Antonio-class landing platform dock and have also used a mobile electronic warfare jamming system on deck of a Wasp class amphibious assault ship to knock down hostile drones.





"From operating areas in Norway, Iceland, and Greenland, EABs could support an ASW fence across the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap, bottling Russian submarines in the Norwegian Sea and keeping them out of the North Atlantic," Berger explained. "The same concept could be applied to the First Island Chain in the western Pacific."

"Without being limited to the Philippines and Japan, EABs could create opportunities from multiple locations beyond the South and East China Seas," he continued. "Close, confined seas may offer more opportunities for Marine EABs to sense and strike Chinese ships and submarines, while supporting fleet and joint ASW efforts."

As already noted, the challenge that Russian or Chinese submarines would present in any major contingency or conflict in the future, both to naval forces on the front lines and maritime logistics chains in rear areas, is very real. It's hardly surprising then that Berger would be adamant about contributing to that part of the fight.



At the same time, it remains to be seen just how much of this vision the Marines will be able to actually implement. While many of the technical aspects appear to be readily achievable, hunting submarines is a very specific skill set, as the War Zone has explored on multiple occasions in the past. It's not clear how realistic it might be to train Marine units to take on this mission set on top of all the other tasks they are already expected to perform as part of the EABO concept. Using Navy assets or those from U.S. allies and partners to cue Marine anti-submarine warfare attacks might help mitigate this, but could limit the Corps' ability to conduct these kinds of operations independently.

There is also a basic manpower question. Berger, and his predecessor Neller, has already talked about expanding the Marine Corps ability to carry out other kinds of operations, including electronic warfare and cyber warfare, but with an understanding that the overall size of his service is unlikely to increase in any substantial way and that it could even shrink. Any effort to establish a dedicated anti-submarine force within the Corps, or even just set aside units to focus more heavily on this mission, could find itself competing for these finite personnel resources.

At the same time, Berger clearly understands that the Marines would always be just one component of a larger anti-submarine warfare picture. In Proceedings, he rightly described several valuable indirect ways in which his service could provide valuable protection for other services or foreign allies and partners hunting for undersea threats and otherwise support those operations.

What is clear is that the threat that submarines would pose to U.S. military operations, broadly, in any future high-end conflict has come sharply back into focus in recent years amid Russian and Chinese developments. Any contribution that Berger's Marine Corps can make toward any future undersea fight would certainly be more than welcome.

Citation :

16.11.2020

L'USMC continue de dire Bye Bye à ses tanks



Le Corps des marines continue de retirer du service actif ses unités de chars dans le cadre de sa restructuration qui prévoit la suppression de 13 000 postes et la dissolution des unités de chars de l'USMC. Ce plan baptisé "Design Force 2030" a été dévoilé en mars dernier. Dans ce cadre, la disparition des trois bataillons de chars du Corps a été annoncée. Les marines utilisent des chars depuis 1923.

Le 13 novembre, c'est la compagnie Bravo du 2e bataillon de chars de la 2e division de marines qui a été mise en sommeil lors d'une cérémonie à Camp Lejeune, en Caroline du Nord. Cette unité, vieille de près de 80 ans, a donc été "désactivée" (photo Cpl. Elijah J. Abernathy). Le 24 juillet, c'était la compagnie Charlie de ce même bataillon qui avait été dissoute, au même endroit et pour les mêmes raisons.

Depuis juillet, près de 200 engins chenillés dont de nombreux chars de la 1ere division de marines ont été rétrocédés à l'US Army. Ces chars Abrams et ces engins de dépannage M-88 ont été rassemblés sur la base logistique de Barstow, en Californie, avant de rejoindre des dépôts de l'US Army à Herlong en Californie et à Anniston en Alabama.

http://lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr/archive/2020/11/15/l-usmc-dit-bye-bye-a-ses-tanks-21618.html

The EurAsian Times a écrit:

US Marine Corps Squadron Ready To Deploy Stealth F-35C Jets On Aircraft Carrier

The United States Marine Corps’ first squadron of F-35 stealth fighter jets has declared initial operational capability (IOC).

Lockheed Martin’s F-35C carrier variant (CV) currently stands as the only fifth-generation, long-range stealth fighter, exclusively built for carrier operations.

The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 134, also known as ‘Black Knights’, is based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Miramar, California. The squadron on Wednesday declared IOC for the CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Assisted Recovery) variant of the fighter.

According to David Cenciotti, writing for the Aviationist, “The IOC certifies that the squadron meets the Headquarters Marine Corps standards, which define the minimum number of trained Marines, mission-ready aircraft and trained pilots needed in order for a squadron to become IOC complete.”

The latest development enables the squadron to deploy the fighters onto their aircraft carriers.

Major General Christopher Mahoney, Commanding General of the 3rd MAW (Marine Aircraft Wing), said, “The F-35 is an expeditionary platform that extends the reach of our Marines and machines, and increases our ability to support joint and allied partners at a moment’s notice,”

“By effectively employing the F-35, MAGTF [Marine Air-Ground Task Force] commanders have the potential to dominate our adversaries in a joint battlespace, in the air and out at sea.”

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan French, Executive Officer of VMFA-314, lauded the efforts of the maintenance department along with the aircraft readiness of the US Marines.




The United States Marine Corps’ first squadron of F-35 stealth fighter jets has declared initial operational capability (IOC).

Lockheed Martin’s F-35C carrier variant (CV) currently stands as the only fifth-generation, long-range stealth fighter, exclusively built for carrier operations.

The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 134, also known as ‘Black Knights’, is based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Miramar, California. The squadron on Wednesday declared IOC for the CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Assisted Recovery) variant of the fighter.

According to David Cenciotti, writing for the Aviationist, “The IOC certifies that the squadron meets the Headquarters Marine Corps standards, which define the minimum number of trained Marines, mission-ready aircraft and trained pilots needed in order for a squadron to become IOC complete.”

The latest development enables the squadron to deploy the fighters onto their aircraft carriers.

Major General Christopher Mahoney, Commanding General of the 3rd MAW (Marine Aircraft Wing), said, “The F-35 is an expeditionary platform that extends the reach of our Marines and machines, and increases our ability to support joint and allied partners at a moment’s notice,”

“By effectively employing the F-35, MAGTF [Marine Air-Ground Task Force] commanders have the potential to dominate our adversaries in a joint battlespace, in the air and out at sea.”

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan French, Executive Officer of VMFA-314, lauded the efforts of the maintenance department along with the aircraft readiness of the US Marines.



“Our maintenance department was critical to the success of IOC. In addition to accepting and inspecting the multiple aircraft that arrived throughout the year, the Marines maintained a high level of aircraft readiness,” French said.

“Those mission-capable aircraft allowed the pilots to train in the appropriate missions required of IOC, as well as contributed towards the readiness metrics of IOC.”

The US Navy is the largest customer for the F-35Cs.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/12/31/new-in-2021-marine-corps-to-get-more-amphibious-combat-vehicles/ a écrit:

In November 2020, Delta Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, based out of Twentynine Palms, California, received the Marine Corps’ first amphibious combat vehicle.

In 2021 more units will start to receive the ACV, destined to completely replace the Vietnam-era amphibious assault vehicle.

The next lot of ACVs is expected to hit the fleet in January or February, with a new shipment being received by Marine units every two or three months after that, Marine Corps Times previously reported.

In early December the Corps approved the full-rate production of the ACV, paying about $184 million to BAE Systems for 36 new vehicles.

All the vehicles purchased so far have been the personnel variants, though other versions of the vehicle are currently being developed including the command and control variant, the recovery variant and one with a 30 mm cannon.

If it fits it ships!

HMH-463 Pegasus conducted on load operations yesterday as the squadron executes Phase I in accordance with CMC Force Design 2030. These CH-53Es will be transferred to Okinawa to support UDP squadron operations. pic.twitter.com/U6WK7pkMQs

— 1st MAW Marines (@1stMAW_Marines) March 3, 2021