Marines deploy F-35B fighters on Navy ship in Pacific for first time

 The Marine Corps has deployed its most advanced, multirole strike fighter aboard a Navy ship for the first time in the Pacific.

A detachment of F-35B Lightning IIs with Fighter Attack Squadron 121 – based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan – landed aboard the amphibious-assault ship USS Wasp on Sunday and Monday.

The Navy, which did not disclose the location of the Wasp or the number of F-35B fighters landing on it, touted the event as a new era of “up-gunned” air-sea capability.

 “Pairing F-35B Lightning IIs with the Wasp represents one of the most significant leaps in warfighting capability for the Navy-Marine Corps team in our lifetime,” Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, Task Force 76 commander, said in a Navy statement.

“This 5th generation stealth jet is extremely versatile and will greatly enhance and expand our operational capabilities.”

The F-35Bs – capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings – are under the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the only forward-deployed MEU in the region, the Navy said.



Source: stripes

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