Page 44 - F-35B and USMC

The Integration of the F-35B into USMC Operations

For operators and maintainers, the intermediate area below the hangar deck is a major change as well.

Marines will have access to world class or corner space standard test batches for calibration, they can do
everything at sea can be done in a corner space or a land environment. From a warship capability is amazing and
the goal is to increase the repairable capability on the ship rather than waiting for parts to be sent to the ship.

Transit time loss is a big deal; sometimes we have to go halfway around the world for a part because there is no
way to beat the geographic distance.
The only way you can do that with a part is to have a spare in the supply system.

Now you have an aircraft that either has to have a cannibalization of a part to keep it flying or you have to wait
and you have your downtime on an aircraft.

The goal of the I level is to be able to actually be able to repair aircraft with parts on board. And with the
increased storage capacity this clearly will happen.
The USS America will make a significant contribution to the amphibious strike force, but no platform fights
alone.

It will be a key element or even flag ship of evolving approaches. When one marries the new MSC assets –T-
AKE and USNS Montford Point assets – to the LPD-17 and the USS America, the USN-USMC team will have a
very flexible assault force, with significant vehicle space, berthing space for embarked Marines and shaping
the future mix and match capabilities of the modular force.

To illustrate the impact of such a task force on berthing of embarked Marines, in addition to berthing on the
USS America, one could carry 680 Marines aboard an LPD-17, 100 aboard a T-AKE ship and 250 aboard a
Montford Point, and that is with current capabilities which be modified as modular capabilities evolve against
operational needs, requirements and funding.

In short, the USS America is part of the evolving amphibious strike task force, and will work synergistically with
other new or legacy assets in providing capabilities necessary for 21st century operations.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF JOINTNESS: THE NAVY AND MARINES REWORK
OPERATIONS FROM THE SEA

By Robbin Laird

9/18/15

The Army has so hijacked the concept of jointness that the broader transformation of jointness being shaped
by the evolution of the amphibious forces has escaped attention as precisely what it is – the transformation of
joint capabilities.

In broad terms, amphibious operations has shifted from primarily providing a transport capability to
providing a base of operations for the air-land-sea domains, and the flexibility of the evolving
amphibious task force allows it to focus on the primary domain necessary for the mission: ground, air or
sea.

It is a flexible Swiss army knife for joint operations. The V-22 Osprey has been a key agent of change
whereby ground forces can be inserted at greater distance, resupply can be managed from land to the sea

Second Line of Defense

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