Fledermaus
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A few comments.Marines To Test Lightning Carrier Concept With 20 F-35Bs Aboard USS Tripoli This April
The Lightning Carrier concept has been in the works for years and will effectively see big deck amphibious assault ships turned into light carriers.www.thedrive.com
Early this coming April, United States Marine Corps F-35Bs from three squadrons will converge aboard the USS Tripoli (LHA-7) to fully test the 'Lightning Carrier' concept. The idea to basically turn big-deck “Gator Navy” amphibious assault ships into light aircraft carriers packed with F-35Bs first emerged five years ago, but it has its roots in AV-8 Harrier operations going back decades. A whopping 20 F-35Bs will be conducting sustained operations followed by surge operations from the USS Tripoli. The event will test the ability of the Marines to operate two full F-35B squadrons from one ship at one time and could have major impacts on what the stealthy jets, and the ships they deploy on, can bring to the fight in the future
Interesting.
For a larger country like the US, with worldwide obligations, it makes some sense to increase flexibility and spread risk by sprinkling smaller carriers about alongside the large ones.
I'll put you down for: Supports the Military Industrial Complex. No thanks.
Imagine using all that money for humanitarian relief and migration support.
That would be nice too but this is not a thread on spending. The ships are already built - they're just finding another use for them.
A few comments.
1: calling them tiny is just wrong. The Tripoli is over 800 feet long, 100 feet wide. It is not as big as a modern CV, but bigger than most other ships.
2: The aircraft are out of Yuma. Even being at sea is better than being at Yuma. I thankfully only spent a week there, but it was a long, hot week spent mostly watching jackrabbits run out by the flightline.
3: Your source says "Meanwhile, VMFA-225 is the latest squadron to transition to the F-35B from the F/A-18D Hornet". Now that is a major transition, from aging, 20 + year old aircraft to cutting edge.
4: Also from your source: "Another thing is that the deck sequence with a large number of airplanes has yet to be tested. We currently recover aircraft on spot seven and nine in the rear of the boat but there is potential, just like we learned with the Harrier, that we need to have a forward and aft landing spot in order to recover and push airplanes to their forward and aft parking spots simultaneously." That is going to be the trick, just from looking at the pictures. Not alot of room(relatively), so you need skilled aircraft handlers(ABs, or yellow shirts) to make things work, and a highly skilled airboss.
5: This all strikes me as a great idea. Power projection is the point of the navy/marines, and 20 F35s that can be forward deployed will help alot.
How about humanitarian relief, migration assistance, and pandemic isolation hospitals?
How about ferrying food and medical supplies? How about doing good in the world?
How about humanitarian relief, migration assistance, and pandemic isolation hospitals?
How about ferrying food and medical supplies? How about doing good in the world?
Stopping bad guys from continuing harm is often step one in doing good.
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