The US Marines are prioritising the non-jumpjet version of the F-35 stealth jet
Story by David Axe • 15h
Without much fanfare, the US Marine Corps made a critical decision recently – one that should boost the ability of its fighter squadrons to wage a major air war in the western Pacific region.
With the stroke of a pen, the Corps significantly altered the mix of Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter variants it’s acquiring. Instead of buying 353 vertical-landing F-35Bs and just 67 carrier-capable tailhook F-35Cs as previously planned, now the Marines will buy 280 F-35Bs and 140 F-35Cs: enough for 12 F-35B squadrons and eight F-35C squadrons, each with 12 jets.
The Corps announced the change in the latest edition of its annual aviation plan.
There are already around 180 F-35Bs and 50 F-35Cs in USMC service. More of the $100-million, supersonic planes arrive every year from Lockheed’s Texas factory.
The F-35B was designed to operate from the US Navy’s 800-foot amphibious assault ships which don’t have catapults or arrester wires and so require jump-jet capability; the F-35C was always meant to fly from the fleet’s 1,000-foot aircraft carriers. The F-35C, also in service with the US Navy, boasts a bigger wing, more fuel capacity and more capacious weapons bays than the F-35B, which must accommodate a downward-blasting engine driven fan and other heavy, bulky equipment that lends it its vertical landing capability. The F-35C is also cheaper to buy and to operate, being less complex.
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