Tag: USMC

Israel has signed an order for more than two billion $ for the purchase of 12 CH-53K helicopters, with an option to purchase six more. The first helicopters will arrive in Israel by 2026 and will replace the old CH-53D Yasur helicopters, that are planned for decommissioning in 2025.

AeroVironment announced today the receipt of a contract for its new Switchblade 600 loitering missile. The order was received from the Special Operations Command. The allocates $26 million for the delivery of weapons and their integration of the new weapon on specialized maritime platforms operated by US Special Operations Forces. Completion is expected by the end of 2022.

The planned arrival of amphibious support ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) in the Pacific Ocean introduces a new capability for amphibious support ships carrying the F-35B fifth-generation stealth fighters without relying on large aircraft carriers. Apart from the American LHD, both Japan and South Korea are interested in the new potential mating STOVL fighters with flat-deck helicopter carriers. Both countries already acquired the conventional take-off variant (F-35A), and consider operating the Short Take-Off / Vertical Landing (STOVL) B version from ships.

The first F-35B Lightning II aircraft, belonging to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, Marine Aircraft Group 12, arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni today (January 18, 2017) beginning the squadron’s permanent basing at the air station.

Elbit Systems introduce today the Skylark C - the first naval member of its electrically powered mini-UAV family. Based on the operational and combat-proven Skylark I-LEX Mini UAS, the naval variant extends the Skylark reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities to the maritime domain.

The Marine Corps' new heavyweight lifter CH-53K King Stallion completed an external lift of a 13 tons (27,000 pounds) payload at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Test Center in West Palm Beach June 17. The first two aircraft have already verified the King Stallion’s capabilities well in excess of the predecessor CH-53E.

The Marine Corps plans to buy or lease active protection systems (APS) for its M1 Abrams main battle tanks, Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for combat development and integration, told members of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on seapower April 13. that are vulnerable to proliferating anti-tank guided missiles.

The US Marine Corps is planning to deploy the first F-35B unit to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan within a year. The US Air Force is planning to deploy its first units to RAF Lakenheath In the UK by 2020.

The U.S. Marine Corps' F-35B Lightning II aircraft reached initial operational capability today with a squadron of 10 F-35Bs ready for world-wide deployment. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), based in Yuma, Arizona, is the first squadron in military history to become operational with an F-35 variant, following a five-day Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI), which concluded July 17.

A compact yet powerful laser weapon developed by Raytheon will soon be integrated on a HMMWV, to demonstrate its ability to defeat enemy drones, as part of the enhancement of current US Marine Corps ground-based air-defense capabilities.

The US Navy and Marine Corps have tested an Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC) prototype of a heavy amphibious lift vehicle that will be able to carry three times as the current Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), moving into areas the LCAC cannot go

Earlier in July 2014 the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) has tested two new robotic systems during the Advanced Warfighting Experiment which took place as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014 exercise in Hawaii. The systems included the the LS3 Legged Squad Support System and GUSS - Ground Unmanned Support System.

The Integrator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has recently completed a 24-hour flight, demonstrating the platform's expanded endurance and increased gross take-off weight. Integrator is providing the aerial platform for the US Marine Corps' RQ-21A Blackjack small tactical UAS.

The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) is evaluating the integration of laser weapons as an enhancement for the US Marine Corps’ existing low-altitude air-defense capability, which currently lacks reliable CounterUAS (C-UAS) and Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (CRAM) capabilities. An innovative radar system from RADA is providing surveillance, detection and target acquisition for the laser weapon system