F-35C på langtur - Stars & Stripes

 

Marine Corps F-35C stealth fighters cross the Pacific to Australia for first time

By 

SETH ROBSON

STARS AND STRIPES • July 6, 2023

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F-35C Lightning II stealth fighters on their way to Australia from California prepare for aerial refueling over the Pacific Ocean, June 17, 2023. (Gadiel Zaragoza/U.S. Marine Corps)

Four Marine Corps F-35C Lightning IIs flew from California to Australia last month, the first time the stealth jets made the 7,800-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, according to the service.

The aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 departed Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., June 17, and arrived five days later at Royal Australian Air Force Base Williamtown in New South Wales, Australia, a June 24 release said.

The aircraft, designed specifically for carrier operations, are in Australia ahead of the biennial Talisman Sabre drills, scheduled to draw about 30,000 personnel, mostly from the United States and Australia, from July 22 to Aug. 4.

The Marine F-35Cs are Down Under for the first time, but Marine F-35Bs, capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, trained in Australia last summer.

The F-35Cs made four stopovers on their flight south and were supported with cargo and personnel flying in a KC-130J Super Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, the Marines’ release said.

KC-135 Stratotankers from the 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and 108th Air Refueling Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, refueled the F-35s during the journey, according to the release.

“The VMFA-314 Black Knights are beyond excited to bring the first land-based [1st Marine Expeditionary Force] fifth-generation stealth fighters all the way from California to Australia,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Michael O’Brien said in the release.