Combat aircraft

LIGHTNING II LATEST

VMFA-122 RE-FORMS • US NAVY CARRIER QUALS

M

ARINE STRIKE

FIGHTER squadron

VMFA-122 conducted

its  rst mission as an

F-35B unit at MCAS

Yuma, Arizona, on

March 29. Known as the ‘Flying

Leathernecks’, the squadron is the

third operational Marine Corps unit

to transition to the F-35B, having

begun its conversion from the

F/A-18C in October 2017. As part

of the process, VMFA-122 relocated

from MCAS Beaufort, South

Carolina, to Yuma.

In related news, VMFA-

‘Green Knights’ loaded live GBU-

1,000lb (454kg) Joint Direct Attack

Munitions (JDAMs) onto an F-35B

aboard the amphibious assault ship

USS Wasp (LHD 1) on March 24. The

milestone marked the  rst time that

live munitions have been loaded

on to a Lightning while under way

during an operational deployment.

Naval aviators assigned to

VFA-101 ‘Grim Reapers’ and VFA-

‘Rough Raiders’ conducted carrier

quali cations (CQ) aboard the USS

Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), which was

under way in the Atlantic Ocean, from

March 17-21. The pilots made a total

of 140 arrested landings during both

day and night quali cation missions.

Integration of the F-35’s Autonomic

Logistics Information System (ALIS)

with Abraham Lincoln was also

evaluated during the CQ period.

The ‘Argonauts’ of VFA-147 are on

schedule to complete conversion to

the F-35C in October. The squadron’s

transition to the Lightning II began

in January 2018 and its personnel

are undergoing training at Eglin AFB,

Florida, and NAS Lemoore, California.

The US Navy has also now con rmed

plans to  eld an uncon rmed

number of F-35Cs to MCAS Iwakuni,

Japan, sometime after 2021. The

aircraft will replace F/A-18E/Fs with

one of the four squadrons that

operate from the aircraft carrier USS

Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) as part of

Carrier Air Wing CVW-5.

CHARLOTTE’S FIRST GLOBEMASTER IIIS ARRIVE

THE NORTH CAROLINA Air

National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing

commemorated its transition from

the C-130H to the C-17A during

a formal arrival ceremony for the

Globemaster III at Charlotte-Douglas

International Airport on April 7. Two

C-17As arrived at the North Carolina

base from Joint Base Charleston,

South Carolina,  own by crews from

the 156th Airlift Squadron. While

en route to Charlotte the C-17As

conducted a  ight over the Wright

Brothers National Memorial at

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The

145th Airlift Wing celebrated the

70th anniversary of its activation on

March 15, 2018. Appropriately, one

of the C-17As was given special tail

markings to mark the milestone.

PRESIDENTIAL HELICOPTER MAKES PROGRESS

THE FIRST TWO VH-92A engineering

development models (EDM) are

being prepared for hand-over to the

US Navy this summer. The aircraft,

which respectively  ew for the  rst

time in July and November 2017,

are currently at Lockheed Martin’s

Owego, New York, facility where they

are being painted and having their

interiors installed. Both EDMs will

support an operational assessment

that will be conducted by Marine

helicopter squadron HMX-1 and will

validate and verify the helicopter’s

unique requirements.

Development of the VXX

presidential helicopter began

in May 2014, when the US Navy

awarded the $1.2-billion contract to

Sikorsky Aircraft, which is now part

of Lockheed Martin. In addition to

the SDD aircraft it provided for four

VH-92A system demonstration test

article (SDTA) aircraft and associated

support equipment, and included

production options. Ultimately the

program includes 17 production

aircraft, making for a  eet of 21

operational and two test helicopters.

Under current plans the initial group

of six low-rate initial production

helicopters will be purchased

in 2019 with the remaining 11

following in 2020 and 2021.

The four SDTAs are being

transformed from S-92As into

VH-92As by Sikorsky at its Stratford,

Connecticut, facility. All four will be

fully con gured for the mission and

will be delivered in summer 2019.

SNEAKY DASH

Seen arriving at RAF Mildenhall on April 6 is DHC-8-202 N8200R, callsign

‘Grizzly 46’, thought to be owned by Dynamic Aviation (Dynamic Avlease).

It’s one of two examples operated for special mission roles by the

company. Ryan Dorling

SUPER HERCULES TO

REPLACE ‘FAT ALBERT’

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS Command

(NAVAIR) plans to purchase one of 10

C-130Js acquired from the Royal Air

Force as a replacement for the C-130T

support aircraft operated by the US

Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron,

the Blue Angels. The Hercules has

been grounded since a US Marine

Corps variant crashed in July 2017.

The UK, which originally acquired 10

C-130Js and 15 stretched C-130J-

variants that are respectively operated

under the designations Hercules C

and Hercules C4, intends to retire

the former while retaining the latter.

It has already reportedly sold two

of the C5s to Bahrain. Acquisition

of the C-130J is intended to avoid a

gap in logistical support of the  ight

demonstration squadron.

C-17A 00-0183 en route to

Charlotte-Douglas International

Airport. USAF/TSgt Julianne Showalter

Special tail markings

applied to C-17As 00-

and 93-0602. NCANG

UNITED STATES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // June 2018 09

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