VMFA-121 departs for Japan

The first group of what will eventually be 16 F-35Bs has departed Miramar for Iwakuni Japan. The deployment called for 10 aircraft to go first, followed in a few months by 6 more.

Once at Iwakuni, the aircraft will perform their first shipboard deployment on the USS Bonhomme Richard. They'll spend at least one night at Elmendorf for crew rest, before continuing on.

www.miramar.marines.mil...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
The first group of what will eventually be 16 F-35Bs has departed Miramar for Iwakuni Japan. The deployment called for 10 aircraft to go first, followed in a few months by 6 more.

Once at Iwakuni, the aircraft will perform their first shipboard deployment on the USS Bonhomme Richard. They'll spend at least one night at Elmendorf for crew rest, before continuing on.

www.miramar.marines.mil...

Didn't they use F-35's in call of duty advanced warfare? Hmmm.
There was also news about swarm drones.

This makes it feel like Call of Duty Advance Warfare is becoming real life!
The only thing missing is the walking tanks!!

Good let Jim Jong know that there are aircraft that he cannot stop in the hood

Such a pretty birda reply to: Zaphod58

I can't wait to see how it performs against another 5th gen aircraft. Not that I am a advocate of war but still would like to see it in action.

So if the jet is weapon loaded for stealth and it opens the doors for a weapon launch does it then loose it's stealth capabilities for the little bit of time or does it retain that stealth due to some high tech DARPA thing? Also does the same apply to F-22?a reply to: Zaphod58

a reply to: Allaroundyou

It applies to all stealth aircraft. They've reduced it since the F-117, but unless they want to build an all composite internal structure, they can't eliminate it. So to get around it, they've reduced the time the doors are open for weapon launch.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
Such a pretty birda reply to: Zaphod58

I can't wait to see how it performs against another 5th gen aircraft. Not that I am a advocate of war but still would like to see it in action.

No, it will be used against Aliens.

Watch them drop from the skies.

The Marine Corps commandant for aviation wasn't happy with the crossing. The Air Force sets the rules for flights of this nature, and they took it ultra conservatively. The crossing took 7 days, and was flown with nine tankers for 10 fighters, with the fighters flying the entire trip with refueling probes extended. Each F-35 refueled 25 times, and a total of 766,000 pounds of fuel were transferred.

m.aviationweek.com...