Retour aux nouvelles

10 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

Why the Navy will deactivate an F-35 Squadron next year

By:

The Navy will deactivate the Grim Reapers of Strike Fighter Squadron 101, consolidating all Joint Strike Fighter operations and training at California's Naval Air Station Lemoore, officials confirmed on Friday.

The squadron has been based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It was reactivated in 2012 as the Navy's initial F-35C fleet replacement squadron. At the time, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Joint Strike Fighter replacement squadrons were located there as well.

The move of the Grim Reapers' 15 aircraft is slated to be effective on July 1, according to OPNAV notice 5400.

“The Navy is moving forward with the deactivation of VFA-101 at Eglin AFB next year, and the re-alignment of F-35C assets into Strike Fighter Squadrons to support VX-9 Detachment Edwards AFB, Air Warfare Development Command (NAWDC) at NAS Fallon and maintain Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) production at VFA-125, while transitioning Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadrons to the F-35C Lightning II,” wrote Lt. Travis Callaghan, a Naval Air Forces spokesman, in an email to Navy Times.

The shift to California should see the Grim Reapers' 29 officers and 239 enlisted personnel replace their patches with those of the “Rough Raiders” of Strike Fighter Squadron 125, Lemoore's F-35C replacement squadron.

“This will co-locate the fleet replenishment squadron production of pilots directly into the operational squadrons scheduled for transition to F-35C,” according to a note in the directive ordering the move.

The extra aircraft, pilots and maintainers at Lemoore are expected to help the Pentagon meet its testing and evaluation requirements for the the Navy's first operational fleet F-35C squadron, VFA-147,

That major milestone for the Navy's JSF program is still slated to happen in 2019. The maiden overseas deployment of VFA-147 is anticipated in 2021 while embarked on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.

Deactivating VFA-101 wasn't the Navy's original plan.

Officials wanted to move the squadron to Lemoore in early 2017. Then the Navy decided to keep VFA-101 at Eglin and stood up a second training squadron, VFA-125, at Lemoore.

At the time, officials told Navy Times there was “no plan in the foreseeable future for VFA-101 to be stood down” because “the requirement is for two FRS while we are transitioning squadrons.”

The Grim Reapers could be resurrected if the Navy chooses to have an F-35 replacement squadron on both coasts. The OPNAV note requires the Navy to “maintain VFA 101 squadron lineage (name, UIC, insignia, call sign, etc.) for future reactivation.”

But bringing the Grim Reapers back to life likely won't happen for at least a decade. That's because the Navy has yet to start the process of naming a home base for its East Coast F-35Cs. It requires extensive environmental impact studies before senior leaders make the final decision on where the squadrons will go. And that, Navy officials say, isn't expected to start until the mid-2020′s at the earliest.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/07/why-the-navy-will-deactivate-an-f-35-squadron-next-year/

Sur le même sujet

  • US lawmakers protest proposed cuts to shipbuilding

    8 janvier 2020 | International, Naval

    US lawmakers protest proposed cuts to shipbuilding

    By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, two key lawmakers decried proposed cuts to shipbuilding, saying the cuts threaten long-term security and jobs. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, said in a letter that they are “deeply concerned” about reports that five of the 12 Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers planned in the Pentagon's five-year projection were on the chopping block. “We write to express our strong support for a 355-ship Navy and to urge continued support from the Department for a robust shipbuilding budget," the letter said. The cuts, which were outlined in a memo from the White House's Office of Management and Budget to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and obtained by Defense News, would hit Maine particularly hard, according to analysts, and could put jeopardize jobs at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. Collins and King highlighted $390 million appropriated in the 2020 budget for advanced procurement for three destroyers, noting that the memo only notes one destroyer planned for 2021. The letter said Congress would get the last word on the shipbuilding profile, and the senators expressed confidence that support for shipbuilding would continue. “We expect this congressional support for Navy shipbuilding and DDG-51 procurement to continue in FY 2021 and beyond, and we hope the Department and administration will join us in these efforts,” the letter read. “As you continue to develop and finalize the Department's FY 2021 budget request, we urge you to reverse course from cutbacks to shipbuilding plans that may be under deliberation and to support a 355-ship Navy.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/01/07/lawmakers-protest-proposed-cuts-to-shipbuilding/

  • New RAMBO Attack Uses RAM Radio Signals to Steal Data from Air-Gapped Networks

    11 septembre 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

    New RAMBO Attack Uses RAM Radio Signals to Steal Data from Air-Gapped Networks

    New RAMBO attack exploits radio signals from RAM to steal data from air-gapped networks, posing cybersecurity risks.

  • DARPA Project Drives Simulation Technology for Off-Road Unmanned Vehicles

    21 janvier 2021 | International, Terrestre, C4ISR

    DARPA Project Drives Simulation Technology for Off-Road Unmanned Vehicles

    RACER-Sim to focus on new computer models to advance autonomy capabilities DARPA's Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency - Simulation (RACER-Sim) project is seeking innovations in technologies that bridge the gap from simulation to the real world and significantly reduce the cost of off-road autonomy development. DARPA invites proposals for promising solutions that support these goals. While the past decade has seen increased use of simulation in developing field robotics, the military off-road environment is especially challenging and complex. Computers need to re-create three-dimensional surfaces, compliant soils and vegetation, and hundreds of obstacle classes. Software also needs to take into account lower fidelity or limited mapping data, unique platform-surface interactions, continuous motion planning, and no defined road networks or driving rules. In addition, modeling high speed off-road performance of sensors/modalities, sensor-to-terrain representations, autonomous platforms, and autonomous control remains a software and processing challenge. “Because these challenges haven't been effectively met, the practical use of current virtual models to advance off-road field robotics capabilities is limited and doesn't yet allow a demonstrable simulation-to-real world capability, said Dr. Stuart Young, RACER program manager. “The large reality gap of current software models and complexities of their use discourage developers and prevent them from leveraging the full benefits of simulation.” Over a four-year timeline, RACER-Sim will investigate technologies that are applicable to the off-road environment in the areas of algorithm development, simulation element technologies, and simulator content generation. Source: DARPA Date: Jan 19, 2021 https://www.asdnews.com/news/defense/2021/01/19/darpa-project-drives-simulation-technology-offroad-unmanned-vehicles

Toutes les nouvelles