55
of Concept Demonstration’ that took place
during the F-35B’s DT-III embarkation on the
USS America (LHA 6) from October 2016. The
Agile Lightning experiment in February 2017
then looked at how the F-35B integrated into
a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF).‘Avengers’
VMFA-211, the Marine Corps’ second
operational F-35B unit, was grown out of
VMFA-121, which swelled before splitting
off the new squadron. In turn, it too
grew to produce the foundation for
VMFA-122 ‘Flying Leathernecks’- the third Marine Corps
operational F-35B squadron.
VMFA-211 officially
transitioned to the F-35B
on June 30, 2016, and that
September was at Tyndall
AFB, Florida, for a Weapons
System Evaluation Program
(WSEP) where pilots shot two AIM-
120s. Former squadron commander
Lt Col Chad Vaughn said: “After WSEP
we were back at Yuma for a while and
focusing on the basics of employing the
aircraft before we again headed out in
November [2016] in support of DT-III on the
USS America.” In early 2017, VMFA-121
supported a Weapons and Tactics Instructor
(WTI) course at Yuma, and sent out various
small detachments, including to Nellis
AFB, Nevada, in May. It was the precursor
to a major step up in July, as the ‘Avengers’
headed back to Nellis for Exercise Red Flag.
“As we are all flying the same basic aircraft
in all three services, we pushed right from
the very beginning of this programme
to have a common tactics manual –
VMFA-121, which swelled before splitting
off the new squadron. In turn, it too
grew to produce the foundation for
VMFA-122 ‘Flying Leathernecks’- the third Marine Corps
operational F-35B squadron.
transitioned to the F-35B
on June 30, 2016, and that
September was at Tyndall
AFB, Florida, for a Weapons
System Evaluation Program
(WSEP) where pilots shot two AIM-
120s. Former squadron commanderABOVE: Watching the F-35B in the esh, especially in the hover, is impressive. It is
not as noisy as many had warned, and it sits rock steady. Jamie Hunter
BELOW: VMFA-121 initially operated from MCAS Yuma, before declaring IOC and
then moving to Japan. Jamie Hunter
Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning IIs
of VMFAT-501 ‘Warlords’ from MCAS
Beaufort. Jamie Hunter