USMC Concepts & Programs 2013 - Defense Innovation Marketplace

chapter 3: programs
support aircraft. This reduces logistical requirements,
further decreasing strains on MAGTF resources.
Program Status
Highlights of the F-35B program:
• May 12: VMFAT-501 begins F-35B flight
operations at Eglin Air Force Base
• September 12: 948 total F-35B flights
• October 2011: L Class ship trials
• Estimated Initial Operational Capability
(IOC): Late 2015
• Estimated Full Operational Capability
(FOC): TBD
Procurement Profile: FY 13 FY 14
Quantity: 6 6
Developer/Manufacturer:
Lockheed Martin, Fort Worth, TX
The Marine Corps will employ the F-35B and
F-35C to support the six functions of Marine Corps
aviation. This remarkable breadth of employment will
allow the Marine Corps to decrease its tactical aviation
inventory while increasing aircraft lethality, survivability,
and supportability compared to those of legacy
aircraft.
The VMFAT-501 “Warlords,” the first Marine
Corps JSF STOVL training squadron, stood up on April
2, 2010 as part of the JSF Integrated Training Center
at Eglin AFB, FL. VMFAT-501 will be assigned to 2d
Marine Aircraft Wing for operational control and administrative
control, but the Warlords will maintain a
command training relationship and co-location with
the U.S. Air Force 33rd Fighter Wing. Students are
expected to start training in 2012. The Operational
Test and Evaluation (OT&E) detachment stands up
at Edwards AFB during 2014 and commences Block
2.0 OT&E in 2015.
The Marine Corps will acquire 357 STOVL aircraft
and 63 CV aircraft for a total of 420 JSFs. Once
the F-35 enters service, the Marine Corps will begin
retirement of AV-8Bs and F/A-18A-Ds. All legacy tactical
strike aircraft platforms should be retired by 2031.
JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER (JSF)
TRANSITION PLAN
Marine Air Ground Task
Force Electronic Warfare
(MAGTF EW)
Description
The USMC’s EA-6B Prowler will be decommissioned
by the end of FY 2019. This “sundown” plan,
combined with rapidly changing dynamics in the electromagnetic
operating environment (EMOE), compels
an evolutionary approach to the complex problem set
of electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) control.
The Marine Corps will address its electronic warfare
requirements through a concept known as MAGTF
EW, an integrated family-of-systems approach of distributed,
platform-agnostic attack and receive capabilities.
Far from a compromise plan for the retirement
of the EA-6B, the MAGTF EW strategy will unite air,
land, and sea-based EMS-dependent technologies to
ensure collaborative, efficient, and effective control of
the EMS.
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