U.S. Marines flying a CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter transported an F-35C Lightning II airframe from the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Patuxent River (Pax ITF) to a Navy unit located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, April 24.
An F-35 Lightning II test pilot performed the first night shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) aboard HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier, in Atlantic waters off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard just after 9 p.m. Oct. 29, 2023.
Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) achieved another first in its support of next-generation Naval Aviation with the successful assembly of a lift fan clutch for the F-35B Lightning II aircraft. FRCE personnel became the first within the Department of Defense (DoD) to perform this task outside of the original manufacturer’s facility.
A first round of shipboard testing off the West Coast in January demonstrated that a team effort to increase warfighter capability by adding nighttime landing support for U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B flight operations on LHA(R) America-class Amphibious Assault ships succeeded brilliantly.
The Chief of Naval Operations Director for Expeditionary Warfare (OPNAV N95) and the Marine Corps in July 2021 determined the need to prepare Spot 9 on the aft flight deck as a second Unaided Night Landing Spot for the F-35B Lightning II.
A container marked “PAX Flight Deck Gear CAVOUR DET 2021,” tri-wall boxes for the work centers, shipping containers with massive aircraft air & power units, engine trailers, and other aircraft support equipment (SE) were craned aboard, forklifted through the hangar, and positioned aboard Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550) moored here the last week of February.
The “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 and members of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 successfully delivered an F-35C power module aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the U. S. Navy’s first, at-sea replenishment for this component.
This success follows a November 2020 milestone, during which VRM-30, CVW-2 and Vinson conducted the Navy’s first landings, take-offs, and refueling of a Navy CMV-22B Osprey from an aircraft carrier.
Job rotations are just one way NAVAIR provides employees the opportunity to develop their careers and learn new skills.
With many employees working remotely, job rotations have gone virtual.
Ralph Williams, an industrial engineering technician based out of Fleet Readiness Center East in Cherry Point, North Carolina, participated in a virtual job rotation with the Human Capital Management Dept., based out of Patuxent River, in October 2020.
When issues arise with an F-35 Lightning II, a team of highly skilled aircraft maintenance professionals stands ready to rise to the challenge and get the jet back in the fight. Whether the aircraft requires in-service repair or battle damage needs mending, the F-35 Rapid Response Team (RRT) is ready to pack up and go.
