Videos

Watch: F-35B Fighter Jets arrive in Japan on first overseas mission

A squadron of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters landed safely Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Marine Corps officials said.

This is the first overseas deployment for the F-35B. The jets are from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and the deployment is actually a permanent change of station for VMFA-121 as they will now be permanently based at Iwakuni, the official statement said.

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

A squadron of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters landed safely Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Marine Corps officials said.

This is the first overseas deployment for the F-35B. The jets are from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and the deployment is actually a permanent change of station for VMFA-121 as they will now be permanently based at Iwakuni, the official statement said.

There’s definitely been a lot of challenges . . . moving our aircraft here, the logistics and we have a lot of people to move,” said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Vincent Koscienlniak, an avionics technician with VMFA-121. “One of our biggest issues was the physical movement and preparing everything to come here. There has been a lot of cooperation within the unit and most of the Marines here are very good at what they do. They are hand-selected, and it has shown the last few months.”

VMFA-121 consists of the F-35B Lighting II aircraft, which is planned to replace the F/A-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier II aircraft currently based at the air station. – United States Marine Corps

Three F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 Photo by United States Marine Corps

Featured Image by the United States Marine Corps

 

This article is courtesy of Fighter Sweep.

About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In