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.
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