F-35B Lightning II takes off on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) pic.twitter.com/We0bc53G7d
— Dylan Malyasov (@DylanMalyasov) April 6, 2020
Thanks to DB for this:
The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft. U.S. STOVL aircraft are stationed at the first operational F-35B base, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, where F-35B training is taking place.
The U.S. Marine Corps released fascinating video footage shows the F-35B supersonic stealth jet took off on amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) in the Philippine Sea.
Sailors assigned to amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) conducted flight operations with F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265.
America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit team, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
F-35B Lightning II is the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and features a vertical lift fan and pivoting engine nozzle to deliver vertical landing and short takeoff capability to expeditionary airfields. The F-35 is replacisng AV-8B Harrier IIs in the Marine Corps inventory.
F-35’s mission is to attack and destroy surface targets, intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, provide electronic warfare support, and network enabled reconnaissance support across the full spectrum of combat operations. It has an autonomous capability to strike a broad range of moving or fixed targets, either day or night and in adverse weather conditions.
These targets include air and ground threats, as well as enemy surface units at sea and anti-ship or land attack cruise missiles and it can complete the entire kill chain without reliance on external sources by using fused information from its onboard systems and/or other F-35s.
