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Before declaring IOC, an inspection team of several individuals including members from Headquarters Marine Corps, the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One school and the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFA-T 501) assessed the squadron on many fronts including from a maintenance perspective, a sustainment perspective and an operations perspective. The five day assessment known as an operational readiness inspection (ORI) was ordered by the Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon “Dog” Davis to ensure the unit was ready for operational duty. The Block 2B aircraft are capable of conducting such missions as "close air support, offensive and defensive counter air, air interdiction, assault support escort and armed reconnaissance as part of a Marine Air Ground Task Force, or in support of the Joint Force," Dunford said. The aircraft won’t be capable of carrying the Small Diameter Bomb II or the GAU-22/A four-barrel 25mm Gatling gun that will be carried under the belly. It will also lack the ability to stream video or simultaneously fuse sensor data from a four ship strike package. These capabilities and weapons upgrades will be installed as part of a future upgrade, known as 3F, which is slated to be installed on all F-35Bs starting in 2017. With these capabilities installed the F-35 will begin to truly be a true fifth-generation aircraft that was promised.
For the Marine Corps, the F-35 is extremely important to Marine aviation because of the fact that it will replace several aircraft in the marine corps inventory including the AV-8B harrier, the
F/A-18 Hornet and the EA-6B Prowler. Because the new aircraft will offer new capabilities and sensors, the plane will not replace the legacy aircraft on a one for one basis, but rather come in more limited numbers
The Marines plan on buying 420 F-35s, including 340 B versions which are capable of the Short Takeoff and Landing (STOVL) that can work on amphibious ships as well as 80 C models which can operate from the larger aircraft carriers. The first F-35B deployment is scheduled to take place in 2017, when the Green Knights of VMFA-121 move to Iwakuni, Japan. In the two years before the move to Japan, the squadron could be called upon for emergency operations at any time in any theatre. (Continued on Page 41)