Brumby the USN had February of 2019 set as "threshold requirement" for the F-35C IOC, so the Pentagon did the paperwork this weekNavy Declares Initial Operational Capability for F-35C Joint Strike Fighter
Congratulations to the program. It was a long road getting to the final service declaring IOC.
inside... I'd like to know besides VFA-147 what other USN VFA squadrons are transitioning to F-35C. ...
wing commodore Capt. Max McCoy ... added that the Navy has a transition plan for future squadrons, but since those plans were still subject to change he declined to say which squadrons were next set for transition to the F-35C after VMFA-314."
“One of the key strike missions I did that day was to watch an eight-ship [formation] of F-35s kick open a door, which was a fairly hard door to open. Some F-22s came in after that to hold the door open, and the F-35s went back and picked up a strike train that consisted of [RAAF] Hornets, Super Hornets from the U.S. Navy, Typhoons from the [British] Royal Air Force and U.S. Air Force F-16s, supported by U.S. Navy [EA-18G] Growlers and U.S. Air Force F-16s,” Kitcher said.
“That was the first time I’ve been in a high-end exercise, involving a significant air threat, a significant surface-to-air threat and even a cyberthreat. You could see the way the F-35 was working with Classic Hornets, Super Hornets, Typhoons and Growlers to solve a very difficult problem.
What does Australia think of the F-35?
Australia participated in the recent Red Flag and provided some interesting insight in how the F-35s were used in a high end fight.
What is interesting is that the F-35s were used to kick down the door without any EA support. The F-22s then came in to keep the door open while the F-35s went back to collect a mix bag of 4 gen package including the EA-18G Growler. This is primary evidence that we have discussed before that the F-35s do not require EA support going into a high end fight to kick down the door.
"evidence"What does Australia think of the F-35?
Australia participated in the recent Red Flag and provided some interesting insight in how the F-35s were used in a high end fight.
What is interesting is that the F-35s were used to kick down the door without any EA support. The F-22s then came in to keep the door open while the F-35s went back to collect a mix bag of 4 gen package including the EA-18G Growler. This is primary evidence that we have discussed before that the F-35s do not require EA support going into a high end fight to kick down the door.
Long range and stand off weapons or saturation attacks are effective enough to not even require LO unless we're talking very high end capabilities. F-35 can definitely do it all provided this next generation of SEAD ordinance can fit inside its bays. The surprising bit is going in alone to take out enemy aircrafts as well, including stealth/y ones. Not sure how they are confident about this but I doubt they are referring to all the defenses that exist out there. They're not exactly going to say there are certain countries they will potentially struggle with now are they?