美 해병대 (USMC), F-35 Lightning II C型 구입 결정

 

美 해병대가 Lockheed Martin 社 F-35 JSF STOVL 기, F-35B 의 도입 수량을 줄이고 대신 美 해군이 도입, 운용할 예정

인 함재기형 (Carrier Variant), F-35C 기를 도입하기로 결정했다는 소식 입니다.

 

그동안 다양한 경로를 통해, 개발 과정에서 여러 문제점들이 노출되고 있는 F-35B STOVL 기에 대한 美 해병대의 최초

확보 물량을 축소하던가 혹은 구입을 취소해야 된다는 지적과 분석들이 있어 왔습니다.

 

이러한 가운데, 美 해병대가 美 해군과 함께 추진 중인 전술항공 통합 운영체제 (TACAIR, Tactical Aviation Integration)

구축 과정에서 F-35C 형 도입을 통해, 항공모함에서 美 해군과 동일 기종으로 운용하는 것에 1차적으로 동의한 결과로

생각 됩니다.

 

이번 결정으로 美 해병대는 80대의 F-35C 와 340대의 F-35B STOVL 기를 도입하여  2023년까지 19개 전투비행대대에서

운용 중인 기존 F/A-18 Hornet 과 AV-8B Harrier 전투기 전량을 교체한다는 계획 입니다.

 

美 해군과 해병대의 F-35 Lightning II 확보 및 운용 계획과 관련하여 상세히 보도된 Defense News 3월 14일자 기사를

아래 붙입니다. 또한 아래 마지막 2장의 사진은 TACAIR MOU 에 서명하는 美 해군장관과 美 해군참모총장, 美 해병대

사령관의 모습 입니다.

 

끝으로 이번 美 해군과 해병대의 F-35 Lightning II 도입 관련 내용은 국방성과 美 의회의 최종 승인 절차가 남아 있다는

점 참조 바랍니다.

 

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U.S. Navy Details JSF Buy

Marine Corps To Fly F-35Cs From Carriers

DefenseNews, By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

Published : 14 March 2011      

 

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter picture will become clearer under an updated interservice agreement set to be signed March 14, according to a senior defense official.

 

The Tactical Air memorandum of understanding ratifies the Navy Department's plan to buy 680 F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters (JSF), and details the exact mix of variants and who will fly them. Of the total, 260 will be Navy F-35C carrier-based aircraft, 80 will be Marine F-35Cs, and 340 will be Marine F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) planes.

 

The agreement also reaffirms that Marine F-35Bs and F-35Cs will continue to rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings, sharing commitments with Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35Cs. The Marines will raise the number of carrier-capable squadrons from three to five.

 

The agreement formalizes an earlier decision not to deploy F-35Bs from carriers, but rather to have all Marine squadrons deploying on carriers flying the same C version as their Navy compatriots. The STOVLs will operate from land bases and amphibious ships.

 

The first Navy F-35C carrier squadron is set to stand up in December 2015, with the first Marine F-35C squadron following a year later.

 

By the mid-2020s, according to Navy planners, each carrier air wing will include two Super Hornet squadrons and two Lightning II squadrons. Every fourth F-35C squadron will be a Marine unit.

 

The Navy continues to plan for a fleet of 10 carrier air wings, with 44 strike fighters per wing, organized into 10- and 12-plane squadrons. The Navy will field 35 strike fighter squadrons composed of Super Hornets or F-35Cs, and the Marines will field five F-35C squadrons.

 

Ultimately, the Lightnings will serve alongside a fleet of 556 F/A-18 Es and Fs.

 

There is no intention to field an all-F-35 strike fighter force with any carrier air wing, a senior Navy official said. A new, sixth-generation aircraft will be developed as a follow-on to the F-35, and those aircraft will replace the Super Hornets, the official said. Characteristics of the new aircraft — including whether it will be manned, unmanned or optionally manned — have yet to be determined, the official said.

 

 

STOVL Issues

 

 

Carrier planners have long wrestled with the issue of integrating the F-35B STOVL onto flight decks. The aircraft are not designed for catapult launch, and would require specific launch-and-recovery operations apart from other aircraft types flown from the ships, the senior Navy official said. They also have different range and ordnance-carrying capabilities than the carrier version.

 

Development of the STOVL version has hit a number of engineering snags, including weight, power and heat issues, and the program is currently on a two-year Pentagon "probation" to solve those issues.

 

Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said he believes those issues can be solved before that time, and that the Corps remains committed to the STOVL version.

 

The Marine F-35s will replace all aircraft in 19 strike fighter squadrons — 12 squadrons flying 261 F/A-18 Hornets, and seven squadrons flying 145 AV-8B Harrier jump jets. All of the current aircraft in those squadrons are to be phased out by 2023.

 

The new agreement also will relieve the Navy of the need to supply a Hornet squadron to meet Marine land-based expeditionary needs. Those aircraft deploy under the Unit Deployment Program to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Seven Marine F-35B squadrons will eventually handle those duties.

 

The updated agreement, a senior Marine official said, also provides for nine F-35B squadrons to work with the seven Marine Expeditionary Units that deploy aboard Navy amphibious ready groups.

 

Five Reserve squadrons will also fly strike fighters. Three Marine Reserve squadrons will fly the F-35B, one Navy Reserve squadron will operate the F-35C, and one other Navy Reserve squadron will fly single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornets.

 

Renewal of the Tac-Air agreement, the senior defense official said, allows planners to begin working out more detailed schedules of when individual squadrons will switch to the new aircraft.

 

© 2011, Gannett Government Media Corporation

 

 

  F-35B (BF-02) ⓒ Lockheed Martin

 

  F-35C (CF-01) & F/A-18C Hornet ⓒ Lockheed Martin

 

  F-35C (CF-01) ⓒ Lockheed Martin

 

  美 해군장관을 중심으로 해군참모총장(좌) 과 해병대사령관(우) ⓒ US Navy

 

  ⓒ US Navy