Mary-Louise Hoffman
The U.S. Marine Corps has moved closer to the initial operating capability status for its fleet of Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighters, Reuters reported Monday.
Andrea Shalal writes Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for aviation at the Marine Corps, told reporters the military branch’s F-35s met combat readiness requirements during a review and that USMC Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford could declare an IOC soon.
The military service plans to initially deploy 10 F-35s and can use the jets for international crisis response missions after IOC declaration, according to Reuters.
Davis told reporters that USMC pilots demonstrated the fighter’s ability to target and defeat adversarial aircraft and provide close air ground support during tests.
He added the Marine Corps wants its future F35s to have a greater weapon payload capacity, and full video streaming and night vision platforms, according to Shalal’s article.
