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Scramble 467
3F and has to be going through its Initial Operational Test and
Evaluation (IOT&E) with the weapons and various sensors
that have to perform in a threat-representative environment
to the standards of the US Navy’s operational requirements
document. The IOC procedure is expect to begin in September
2018 and to be complete in early 2019. After IOC, the first
operational fleet F-35C squadron will become Strike Fighter
Squadron (VFA) 147 Argonauts, they should reach IOC in late
- Currently, 21 F-35Cs are delivered to the US Navy, seven
to the US Marine Corps.
On 27 March 2018, Lockheed Martin unveiled its concept for
the Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial tanker. The
Skunk Works’ MQ-25 is answer to the service’s requirement
(deliver about 15,000 pounds of fuel 500 nautical miles from
the carrier) for a new carrier-based tanker and is a tailless
flying wing design that sets it apart from the other competitors
in the program. Boeing and General Atomics Stingray designs
- both revealed late 2017 – feature a wing-body-tail design
for the MQ-25A competition. The Lockheed design could
incorporate a concept of operations to include missions that
could benefit from the inherent low observability of a tailless
design. Possibly the wingless body is a strategic choice for
the company. Although the MQ-25 – 72 will be ordered by the
Navy – is planned as a tanker the tailless design could also be
used for stealthy combat missions. Maybe the Skunk Works
is gambling with their design for a future order of Unmanned
Combat Aircraft Systems (UCAS), so armed strike aircraft. As
known, Northrop Grumman, who was expected to offer a bid
for Stingray based on its X-47B tailless cranked kite design,
dropped out of the competition. The Navy set aside USD 719
million for Stingray in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget and plans
on buying the first four in 2023. Initial Operational Capability
is planned on carrier decks from 2026.
United States Navy unit news
Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet
(ComNavAirLant)
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has plans to
procure one C-130J Hercules of the United Kingdom! The
surplus Royal Air Force C-130J must replace the famous
Fat Albert (C-130T BuNo 164763) of the US Navy Flight
Demonstration Squadron (USNFDS), Blue Angels. NAVAIR
requires a suitable replacement aircraft, which must be
delivered in an expeditious manner, to avoid a gap in
logistical support of the Blue Angels squadron. The aircraft
being procured from the UK MOD has the requisite amount
of life and technical capability to support the Blue Angels
mission. Procurement of a comparable replacement C-130J
from any source other than the UK MOD would create an
unacceptable increase in program cost and delay in fielding
this critical capability.
Carrier Air Wing 3, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), AC
VFA-86 Sidewinders operating the F/A-18E moved to CVW-7.
Carrier Air Wing 7, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), AG
VFA-86 Sidewinders operating the F/A-18E arrived from to
CVW-3/AC and received the AG-3xx tailcode of VFA-83 Ram-
pagers. VFA-83 was reported uncoded from December 2017.
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), off coast Virginea Capes,
completed Carrier Qualifications (CQ) for the F-35C with
aircraft of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 Grimm Reapers
(‘NJ-xxx’) and VFA-125 Rough Riders (‘NJ-xxx’). The US Navy
pilots accomplished day and night qualifications with 140
traps in anticipation of F-35C operational testing later this
year. One of the major milestones for this carrier qualification
evolution was the operational use of the F-35Cs foldable-
wing feature. This feature is a critical component of the
integration of F-35Cs with F/A-18C Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super
Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, facilitating the movement of
the different platforms on the flight deck and rehearsing for
operating as part of a full air wing aboard the carrier.
Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Pacific Fleet
(ComNavAirPac)
Carrier Air Wing 11, USS Nimitz (CVN-68), NH
VFA-147 Argonauts are currently operating the F/A-18E (‘NH-
2xx’ within CVW-11) from NAS Lemoore (CA). Their first
deployment with the F-35C is planned in Fiscal Year 2021
(running 1 October 2020 - 30 September 2021). The Argonauts
are beginning their transition from the Super Hornet to the
F-35C in March 2018, to be complete by October.
Carrier Air Wing 17, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), NA
VFA-81 Sunliners (‘NA-2xx’) is replaced within CVW-17 by
VMFA-312 Checkerboards (normally ‘DR-xx’ coded, but they
adopted the ‘NA-2xx’ code ad modex of VFA-81. VFA-81 is
currently assigned to CVW-1/AB on board the USS Harry S.
Truman (CVN-75). The wing and TR are currently en-route in
the Persian Gulf and that looks like this:VFA-22 Fight’ Redcocks F/A-18F 1xx
VMFA-312 Checkerboards F/A-18C 2xx
VFA-113 Stingers F/A-18E 3xx
VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes F/A-18C 4xx
VAQ-139 Cougars E/A-18G 5xx
VAW-116 Sun Kings E-2C-2000NP 6xx
HSC-6 Indians MH-60S 6xx
HSM-73 Battle Cats MH-60R 7xx
VRC- 30/Det. Providers C-2A NP xxChief of Naval Air Training Command
(CNATRA)
The US Navy is in the process of finding a replacement for
its 115 legacy Bell TH-57B/C Sea Rangers (a derivative of
the Bell 206) training helicopters, this is done by procuring
a commercially of-the-shelf available helicopter, rather
than developing a new military training helicopter. The
Navy’s director of air warfare said that the Navy is going for
a competition between available types and put it into that
mission of training of the next generation of rotary-wing
pilots. The Sea Ranger is in use since 1968 and is operated
by three Helicopter Training (HT) squadrons within Training
Air Wing (TAW) Five. The wing and its squadrons are solely
based at NAS Whiting Field (FL). A fourth unit, designated
Helicopter Instructor Training Unit (HITU) and nicknamed
Blade Runner, is specially for the education of instructor
training. All squadrons extract the TH-57B/Cs from a pool,
so the helicopters are not assigned to a HT. Funding of the
new helicopter start in 2020. From 2020 to 2022 each year 25
helicopters will procured. In 2023 they plan to add another
ten, to complete the order of 85 helicopters. No types are
mentioned yet, but the Airbus Helicopters H135 and H145
(already in use as UH-72 Lakota) are both most probably
one of the likely candidates. But we must nog forget the the
AW119 (already offered by Leonardo-Finmeccanica to the US
Navy for the Advanced Helicopter Trainer Program in 2016)
and Bell types like the 427 and 429. Other successful products
as the MD-Helicopters 500 or 900 series will most probably
compete too.
United States Marine Corps (NY)
The US Marine Corps is monitoring with interest the US
Air Force’s light-attack experiment to see if it is a possible
direction for Marine Corps aviation. The Corps has a pilot
ready to participate in the summer experiment/programme.
As known, the USAF has decided to conduct an experiment
with two existing light-attack aircraft: the Sierra Nevada/
Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and the Textron AT-6 Wolverine.
The experiment is planned for May through July, Stateside
instead of the earlier proposed operational deployment
location in CENTCOM. The US DoD has experimented in