Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Bergh | 201222-N-LR905-1109
INDIAN OCEAN (Dec. 22, 2020) - The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, consisting of USS Makin Island (LHD 8), USS Somerset (LPD 25), USS San Diego (LPD 22), and embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit; and USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) conduct maritime operations off the coast of Somalia under Joint Task Force – Quartz in support of Operation Octave Quartz (OOQ). The OOQ mission is to reposition U.S. Department of Defense personnel from Somalia to other locations in East Africa. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob D. Bergh) see less
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The F-35Bs Lightning II conduct air operations over Somalia under Joint Task Force – Quartz in support of Operation Octave Quartz Dec. 21. The mission of OOQ is to reposition U.S. Department of Defense personnel from Somalia to other locations in East Africa.
Description
The F-35’s mission is to attack and destroy surface targets, intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, provide electronic warfare support, and network enabled reconnaissance support across the full spectrum of combat operations. It has an autonomous capability to strike a broad range of moving or fixed targets, either day or night and in adverse weather conditions. These targets include air and ground threats, as well as enemy surface units at sea and anti-ship or land attack cruise missiles and it can complete the entire kill chain without reliance on external sources by using fused information from its onboard systems and/or other F-35s.
Operational Impact
The F-35 will provide the MAGTF strategic agility, operational flexibility and tactical supremacy. The JSF is the future of all TACAIR for the Marine Corps.
Program Status
The F-35B and F-35C will replace F/A-18, AV-8B, and EA-6B. The Marine Corps will procure a total of 420 F-35s (353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs). The F-35B declared IOC in July 2015 with VMFA-121 at MCAS Yuma. The squadron subsequently moved to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan in January 2017. The aircraft is currently tracking to reach its full program-ofrecord operational capability (Block 3F) in calendar year 2018. The full transition from legacy to F-35 will complete with the transition of the second reserve squadron in 2031. The F-35C is expected to declare IOC in August 2018. FOC is expected for both variants in the late 2020’s.
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