Page 43 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

The Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Arrives into the Combat Force

The ship boarding rate is as high if not higher than the Harrier right now…..

Question: What is a boarding rate?

Captain Andrew Smith: That’s the ability of the airplane to get aboard the ship without having to divert
ashore. It’s something we’re very concerned with because we’re always trying to maintain the ability to divert
in case of a problem. Well, we haven’t had any problems.

Question: What is the difference between flying the Harrier and the F-35B with regard to operating on
this ship?

Captain Andrew Smith: The takeoff and landing portion of the F35 is seamless with the ship.

It is much easier to execute from the pilot perspective as well as the single officer perspective up in the tower.

We were able to, in a very short period of time, smooth out all of our process with the ship, have a team of
three organizations come together, fly together for the first time, set up standard operating procedures (SOP)
and function around the ship in a seamless manner.

And most of that is due to the fact that the jet takes care of a lot of the task loading that was resident in the
Harrier and is not resident in this airplane.

So now we are able to pay attention to flying around the ship, and being a good steward of the aircraft and
the ship at the same time, and bringing aboard exactly on time, exactly on the fuel safe that I’m looking to be
aboard by….

Question: What is the biggest surprise for you about this aircraft aboard the ship?

Captain Andrew Smith; I think for many it’s the situational awareness it gives you.

The other day I took off and all the combat systems that are supposed to be working in the configuration
were working and in the shipboard environment which is a very challenging environment. And I was just very
impressive to me to launch off of the ship, have everything working that should be working, and then complete
a tactical mission with a couple other 35’s. And it’s awesome to see that in the shipboard environment…..

Question: Recently, during a visit to USMC Air station Beaufort it is clear that you are already putting a
great deal of effort into integration with legacy aircraft (F-18s at the base) and with the USAF in the
Georgia Air National Guard is kind of a missing factor in evolving your capabilities. Could you comment
on that?

Major Mike Roundtree: That’s a testament of not just the airplane but the people the Marine Corps has chosen
to put into this program that the moment we’ve gotten the aircraft or gotten block upgraded hardware or
software, the first thing we do is look to see how we can use this airplane tactically and strategically.

We develop the syllabus, we develop the training programs, and we go out and do it. On the East Coast out
of Beaufort we’re fortunate enough to have a large base in Savannah where we can integrate large
exercises many times a year with F22, F16, F18, F15 and do large force exercises.

We use that opportunity to train our pilots. As well as to push the boundaries of the airplane in an inter-
connectivity type of way.

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