Basic instincts: Resetting USMC core operational mindset

[quicksilver]

“500lb GBU-12 Paveway II, they go easy on your total weight even in beast mode.“

I get your point, but (apart from the outboards) those pylons are probably 300ish lbs a piece.

[marsavian]

About 3,750lb in total for that external payload shown which I assume can be brought back for a vertical landing. Adding 2 more internal GBU-12 and AIM-120 would be another 1,750lb in weight, could the F-35B vertically land with ~5500lb of ordinance ? Would leave less than 2000lb of fuel under the 40kbf vertical thrust limit. I think Spazsinbad recently linked the F-35B minimum vertical landing weight but have been unable to find it again.

[optimist]

The CONOPS won't be just a recon with that load. They would have primary and secondary targets. Then, if they were still too heavy back at ship. They would dump what they need to and land. Max vertical landing 37,000lb on google.

[spazsinbad]

KPP: "... STOVL vertical landing with two 1,000# JDAMs & two internal AIM-120s, full expendables, and fuel to fly the STOVL Recovery profile." Easy to figure out - not many numbers UNK - you can guess but guess good. Words words words.

VLBB is the search term Vertical Landing Bring Back: [one may guess about all of this but will be unknown until 'official']
viewtopic.php?f=58&t=52672&p=359982&hilit=VLBB#p359982
&
OLD Guess: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28132&p=304378&hilit=VLBB#p304378
&
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20304&p=252127&hilit=VLBB#p252127

And many more but you do the searching - there is a SAR KPP requirement which has been met but it is JUST WORDS.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20304&p=241367&hilit=VLBB#p241367
&
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20304&p=232896&hilit=VLBB#p232896

Rilly Rilly OLD: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=16751&p=213265&hilit=VLBB#p213265

Good post in woids by 'QS': viewtopic.php?f=58&t=16725&p=213085&hilit=VLBB#p213085

LOTS of words from the dim past: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=15425&p=194944&hilit=VLBB#p194944

Gotta go - thunderbumper…. HE's BACK...

One may see the travesty that is PHOTObuckit: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15378&p=194365&hilit=charts#p194365

[quicksilver]

Max VLBB is ‘about’ 5K#. That’s 5K# above the OWE of the jet in a defined baseline configuration, which I assume to be clean, no pylons, no gun. That 5K must also include fuel. So, while that external load is recoverable, it will be so at near minimum recovery fuel states. The good news is that first-pass recovery rates are astronomical compared to that of their tailhook counterparts.

Obtw, just perused some of the old threads; where have all the Henny Pennys gone? ‘Compromised design...’ yada, yada, yada. It was so much more lively back then.

[spazsinbad]

Bin Lookin' for dis grafik & now 'tis found: download/file.php?id=14935

GONE missing from here? viewtopic.php?f=22&t=23690&p=255949&hilit=Skeptic+Harrier#p255949



Something more interesting? viewtopic.php?f=22&t=23690&p=256645&hilit=FINAL#p256645

download/file.php?id=17893&t=1 USMC F-35B approach / landing & emergency fuel required

[mixelflick]

So the X-35B could carry 2, 2000lb JDAM's, but the production F-35B only carries 1000lbers?

If memory serves, they had to go with a smaller internal weapons bay in the production model - do I have that right? It probably isn't as big a deal as originally thought, owing to the constant refinement of miniaturization, w/respect to weapons...

[quicksilver]

The X-jet did not carry weapons.

[spazsinbad]

Max VLBB is ‘about’ 5K#. That’s 5K# above the OWE of the jet in a defined baseline configuration, which I assume to be clean, no pylons, no gun. That 5K must also include fuel. So, while that external load is recoverable, it will be so at near minimum recovery fuel states. The good news is that first-pass recovery rates are astronomical compared to that of their tailhook counterparts.

Obtw, just perused some of the old threads; where have all the Henny Pennys gone? ‘Compromised design...’ yada, yada, yada. It was so much more lively back then.

All those clowns have come out of hibernation on the new ANTI F-35 thread at Pprune: SCROLL DOWN!]

https://www.pprune.org/military-aviatio ... -ii-5.html

[spazsinbad]

Seein' as the better thread for this has been locked I'll plonk this post here....

Marines’ Force Design 2030 May Allow MEUs Tailored for Different Geographies, Adversaries
02 Apr 2020 Megan Eckstein

"The Marine Corps’ new force design may allow East Coast expeditionary units to look much different than West Coast or Japan-based units, a nod to the complex but different environments they’ll operate in and threats they’ll face in the future. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger recently released his Force Design 2030 plan, which calls for the creation of new Marine Littoral Regiments, as well as redesigned Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) that would be optimized for the Expeditionary Advance Base Operations concept that has driven much of the Marines’ planning in recent months....

…[he] notes he is not confident in the MEUs and Marine Littoral Regiments, which would be the formations most responsible for carrying out EABO – a concept that was reinvigorated in 2016 and signed out in 2018, and that falls under the Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) concept, the Marine Corps offering that pairs with the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations concept.

Asked by USNI News what made him confident in EABO but not confident in the formations that would execute it, he said he had a fair understanding of what a Japan-based MEU or MLR might look like, but that California- and North Carolina-based Marines would need to craft their own kinds of units too to support EABO operations in the environments they’d most likely deploy to.

“I fully embrace the concept of Distributed Maritime Operations the way that the former CNO laid it out and the current CNO embraces it. I think that Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment is something that we have to embrace and be prepared to operate in. Within that, Expeditionary Advance Base Ops, EABO, is a method, is a technique, and it has proven so far in the wargames to be very effective – if you can pull it off. And it’s not easy to do,” Berger told USNI News during the media roundtable.... [MORE EXPLANATION AT THE URL]

…Last year III MEF Marines tested out a couple pieces of EABO in live exercises. In one, according to 31st MEU Commanding Officer Col. Robert Brodie, reconnaissance Marines conducted a high-altitude jump onto Ie Shima island near Okinawa, paving the way for a raid force being flown in to seize the island. Once the island was secured, CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters flew in fuel bladders and ordnance to conduct a forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operation with the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter jets that were experimenting with how they could contribute to island-hopping operations in the Pacific.

Later last year, a similar operation was conducted to establish a FARP for the KC-130J cargo and tanker plane – which is much larger than the F-35 and needs a more established runway, whereas the F-35B variant has short takeoff and vertical landing capability. Though setting up a FARP for the larger fixed-wing plane is more complex than for the F-35, in this exercise the KC-130Js were used as part of a casualty evacuation exercise that smaller planes couldn’t have conducted.

Shortly after the FARP set-up and CASEVAC exercise, the Marines tested another scenario, taking a beach from an amphibious ship and pushing the HIMARS rocket system ashore by LCU surface connectors. They simulated firing the HIMARS using data from an F-35B flying overhead, “demonstrating the capability for long-range precision fire support during expeditionary operations,” USNI News reported at the time. “This was the first time that a HIMARS insert by LCU has ever been completed in the Indo-Pacific region after a simulated amphibious raid, rehearsing naval expeditionary combined-arms maneuver from amphibious shipping.”…" [MUCH MORE AT the JUMP]

Source: https://news.usni.org/2020/04/02/marine ... dversaries

[mixelflick]

I hope the Marines end up with as many F-35B's as they need, because I have a bad feeling they may be the only ones able to fly/fight in a real shooting war with China.

Big (and small) carriers, large airfields etc just aren't as survivable as they once were. If just a few CVN's are taken out of action, there goes almost 200 aircraft, aircrew etc etc.. And here's another thought: What if the Chinese decide to destroy/sabotage LM's factories building all of our uber-weapons?

We better hope we have enough aircraft in service, because at that point there will be no replacing them (unlike for example, WWII, Korea, Vietnam). That's a scary proposition.. Of course, I'm sure we would of course do the same to them, but looking at the numbers... does anyone really know what's "enough"? 420 total F-35s -- 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs is the plan... I hope they get all of them (and then some)...

[quicksilver]

Max VLBB is ‘about’ 5K#. That’s 5K# above the OWE of the jet in a defined baseline configuration, which I assume to be clean, no pylons, no gun. That 5K must also include fuel. So, while that external load is recoverable, it will be so at near minimum recovery fuel states. The good news is that first-pass recovery rates are astronomical compared to that of their tailhook counterparts.

Obtw, just perused some of the old threads; where have all the Henny Pennys gone? ‘Compromised design...’ yada, yada, yada. It was so much more lively back then.

All those clowns have come out of hibernation on the new ANTI F-35 thread at Pprune: SCROLL DOWN!]

https://www.pprune.org/military-aviatio ... -ii-5.html

Sorry I missed this when you posted it spaz. On any given issue these days, there are a herd of what I call ‘10 percenters’ — those who will never ‘get it’, or don’t care to ‘get it’ because it is more viscerally satisfying to just bitch about s___. Increasingly these types frequent websites that were once credible. C’est la vie...

[spazsinbad]

Summer Fury Drills Hone Marines’ New Island-Hopping Fight [LONG ARTICLE BEST READ AT SOURCE]
23 Aug 2020 Gidget Fuentes

"In the Marine Corps’ new concept of expeditionary advanced base operations, its forces disperse light, agile units with a small footprint over a wide area while working jointly with naval forces to counter and fight a credible enemy threat in a multi-domain contested environment.

To prepare for that real-world mission, disparate squadrons and battalions that often don’t train together must integrate to exercise as a Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF).

Last month, 17 squadrons with San Diego, Calif.-based 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing joined with 1st Marine Division and 1st Marine Logistics Group units for exercise Summer Fury 2020, held over three weeks across Southern California and southwest ranges.

The large-scale exercise had two goals: deploy an integrated MAGTF to conduct expeditionary advance base operations (EABO), and “increase aviation operational proficiency with realistic, relevant training to ensure the Marine Corps’ largest aircraft wing remains operationally excellent, interoperable, deployable on short notice and lethal when called into action,” the Marines said in a statement. This year’s training scenario simulated operations across an expansive island region like the Indo-Pacific....

...“From there [many FARPs] … you’re penetrating into badness,” the wing commander, Maj. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, said in a recent interview at his MCAS Miramar headquarters. “How are you going to exploit that distance? You exploit with adapting your capabilities and being quick about it. So get in the door when they ain’t looking – and then go. And then ultimately, in our business, you’ve got to destroy something.”

“You exploit, whether it’s distance, whether it’s the electromagnetic spectrum, whether it’s penetrate the geo-political environment,” Mahoney said. “Then you need to destroy – in most cases – and that’s what we do.”...

...On the ground, Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 372 and Marine Air Control Squadron 1 established FARPs at Lemoore and China Lake, providing valuable logistics to the wing and other MAGTF units.

“It was less than 12 hours to set up the full array of tactical airfield fuel dispensing and the ability to safely arm the airplanes,” Mahoney said. “We proved we could do it quickly and safely and do it operationally. … It’s all the little things that you have to do to exploit.”...

...The fifth-generation F-35s that led the long-range strike helped bring the threat level down for follow-on forces. “We have the ability to find and strike targets that other platforms can’t,” Ahern said. “So when you have an integrated air defense that is going to threaten Hornets or Harriers or anyone else you have out there, (F-35s) can go forward and operate in that environment, and now the rest of the assets can pull forward and operate in a low- to medium-threat environment where they’d normally fly.”

The long-range strike isn’t one the squadron often gets to do, he noted, especially in a scenario “simulating where we have a forward runway or island with fuel and other logistical support and extending the reach beyond that provided by an expeditionary or naval strike group.”..." [LONG ARTICLE BEST READ AT SOURCE]

Source: https://news.usni.org/2020/08/23/summer ... ping-fight

[Corsair1963]

3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s F-35 Squadron Brings Home “Top Honors”



SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

08.17.2020

Story by 1st Lt. Charles Allen

3rd Marine Aircraft Wing  

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – (August 17, 2020) Marines with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) were recognized for their performance in Exercise Red Flag 20-3, which took place between Aug. 3 and Aug. 15 in the vicinity of the Nevada Test and Training Range in Southern Nevada.

Red Flag is an annual war game that has continued to evolve since 1975 and provides Joint Forces with realistic training to help them identify and overcome emerging threats.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 was given “Top Honors” for their superior performance as they showcased the squadron’s abilities to provide support and keep aircraft in the fight. VMFA-211 returned to MCAS Yuma, being named the Outstanding Unit of Red Flag 20-3 after their maintenance department was recognized for their outstanding effort, along with their intel unit taking the “Top S-2” award.

The fifth-generation stealth fighter has only participated in Red Flag since 2016. However, VMFA-211 has proven that with the right support, the F-35 is more than capable of engaging multiple threats simultaneously and provides the Marine Corps with a valuable asset against near-peer adversaries.

"Outstanding Unit is a huge achievement that was accomplished through the efforts of our maintainers, our intel, and all of our supporting elements,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Joseph Freshour, the commanding officer for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211. “This exercise really gave us the opportunity to see where we stand as a squadron, and highlights our ability to work as a team.”

Red Flag offers more than 1,900 possible targets, realistic air-to-air training, surface-to-air training, and the opportunity for continuous day and night operations, which help squadrons successfully prepare to deploy, fight, and win in any environment.

“The exercise offered an opportunity for our squadron to work and overcome complex problems in a scenario as close to combat as possible,” Freshour said. “Red Flag offered an opportunity for our experienced leadership to pass on their skills and knowledge to the next generation, while learning and refining skills of their own.”
Conducting what is considered one of the largest aerial war games in the world requires lengthy planning and coordination to ensure that all participants remained safe and healthy. Members of the Air Force’s 99th Mission Support Group and 99th Medical Group greatly supported these efforts, ensuring that all participants were aware of and adhered to local COVID-19 mitigation protocols.

“Our team built a great plan to keep our service members safe without compromising the rigorous training Red Flag is known for,” said Air Force Col. William Reese, the commanding officer of the 414th Combat Training Squadron. “We know our enemies won’t call a ‘time-out’ for this pandemic. So we’ve focused on warfighting integration and strengthened our partnership with our professional aggressor forces to ensure we are ready to defeat any threat.”

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 has demonstrated their ability to remain technically and tactically proficient in all aspects of combat while practicing operational excellence even in the midst of a pandemic.

3rd MAW continues to “Fix, Fly and Fight” as the Marine Corps’ largest aircraft wing, and remains combat-ready, deployable on short notice, and lethal when called into action.

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/376193/3r ... XeRJq0fimo

[spazsinbad]

Same article posted in REDflag thread two days ago: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=57236&p=443503&hilit=honor%2A#p443503