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F-35B LIGHTNING II
The USMC's 5th Generation Jet Reaches
Initial Operational Capacity
Report and Photography by James DeBoer
On July 31, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, General Joseph Dunford, announced in a press release that the Marine Corps’ new fifth-generation F-35B version of the Joint Strike Fighter had achieved initial operational capability (IOC), being the first of the three versions of the F-35 to do so. The Air Force is expected to make the IOC declaration by December 2016 and the Navy by February 2019. Dunford stated “I am pleased to announce that VMFA-121 [Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121] has achieved initial operational capability in the F-35B, as defined by
requirements outlined in the June 2014 Joint Report to Congressional Defense Committees.” VMFA-121 which is based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona achieved the important milestone by having ten F-35Bs in the Block 2B configuration with the requisite performance envelope and weapons clearances, to include the training, sustainment capabilities, and infrastructure to deploy to an austere site or a ship like the large deck amphibious assault ships according to the release. (Continued on Page 36)