US MARINE CORPS RECAPITALISATION MILITARY
Recapitalising the Corps
relinquish its Hornets and stand up as an
F-35C squadron; and VMFA(AW)-225 ‘Vikings’
will transition from the two-seat F/A-18D to
the F-35B and become VMFA-225. The two
subsequent squadrons will also be former
Hornet units as the Marine Corps recapitalises
its strike assets.
Commenting on the fth-generation
ghter, Gen Davis praised the aircraft:
“Operationally, the F-35 gives us
tremendous capability in every realm: air-to-
air, air-to-ground and strike. I’ve seen a lot
of things in my 37 years of operations as a
Marine strike aviator and commander of our
Fighter Weapons School at Yuma, but I’ve
never seen anything like the F-35 and what
it’s doing for our Marines. What they are
doing with that airplane is truly extraordinaryand qualitatively fantastic. There’s a lot of
innovation, a lot of capability; it is the most
capable airplane that we’ve ever elded.”
By way of example, General Davis described
a recent exercise at Beaufort, during which four
F-35Bs and four Hornets were pitted against
a mixed force of 20 adversaries, comprising
F-5N Tigers, F-15C Eagles and F-16C Fighting
Falcons: “It was a large force exercise, eight
good guys up against 20 very quali ed and
experienced adversaries. It was a self-escort
strike scenario with air-to-air and air-to-ground
weapons. It went very well for the F-35s and
F/A-18s, but not so well for the adversaries. In
the debrief we had a brand-new captain stand
up – one of the F-35 pilots – who talked about
what he thought, what he saw, what they did.
I would say his percentage of AMRAAM shotswas about perfect, as far as the shots he took
and the shots that scored kills. An Air Force
Colonel, an F-15 pilot, said it was really cool
to have young captains in the gun squadrons
citing the Marine as amazing. He is a student
in our training squadron! We have a brand-new
guy that thinks, operates, feels and has the
con dence of a three-year veteran, but he’s
right out of training.
“We’re just scratching the surface of
what we can do with this airplane, it’s really
phenomenal. It makes everybody a little bit
better and gives us the ability to land on a
small ship or at a FOB [forward operating
base] that extends the reach, depth, breadth
and agility of the Marine Air-Ground Task
Force. It’s exactly what we’ve been after for
about 30 years now.”