{"id":15462,"date":"2022-02-15T01:40:24","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T01:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/15\/three-takeaways-from-the-us-navys-first-f-35c-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:31:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:31:53","slug":"three-takeaways-from-the-us-navys-first-f-35c-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2022\/02\/15\/three-takeaways-from-the-us-navys-first-f-35c-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Three takeaways from the US Navy\u2019s first F-35C deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABOARD USS CARL VINSON, OFF THE COAST OF SAN DIEGO \u2014 Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson returned home Feb. 14 after a six-and-a-half-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific, in the U.S. Navy\u2019s first deployment of the \u201cair wing of the future.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and its Carrier Air Wing 2 brought along an F-35C Joint Strike Fighter squadron in its first-ever operational deployment, and they worked with a detachment of CMV-22 Ospreys as the carrier onboard delivery aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cair wing of the future\u201d also included two additional EA-18G Growlers and one additional E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft, bolstering the air wing\u2019s ability to sense the operating area and share data from those sensors across the CSG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an unexpected twist, the carrier strike group began moving towards U.S. 5th Fleet in the Middle East, but then stopped and turned around, remaining in U.S. 7th Fleet and in the Indo-Pacific for the entire duration of its deployment, in what leaders are calling the start of a \u201cshift\u201d for the West Coast fleet\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ships of the Carl Vinson CSG sailed more than 80,000 nautical miles while underway for 262 days \u2014 which included being scrambled to operate off Hawaiian waters in June, as a Russian naval exercise brought ships and aircraft within a couple dozen miles of the island chain, and then conducting final pre-deployment training and certification in July, ahead of an Aug. 2 start of the formal deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During that time, the air wing conducted more than 15,000 flight hours and more than 15,000 combined carrier arrested landings and catapult launches. The air wing and strike group operated with at least five other U.S. and international strike groups and many more partners and allies \u2014 all this, of course, while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges for the fleet, specifically around conducting port calls for crew rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A larger air wing of the future?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Strike group commander Rear Adm. Dan Martin said Carrier Air Wing 2 showed \u201cseamless integration\u201d of the F-35C and the CMV-22 into the air wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did it bring new and more capable aircraft into the mix, it was a larger air wing than usual \u2014 and Martin is advocating for it to grow larger still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis deployment, I think, showcased what would be a paradigm shift in the way that the aircraft carrier and the strike group deployed,\u201d Martin told reporters embarked on the carrier as it sailed towards San Diego on Feb. 13. \u201cSince I was a young lieutenant, we\u2019ve been going to 5th Fleet and flying close air support missions for the Marines and the SEALs and Army on the ground, with air supremacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is just a complete change, with a near-peer competitor, with activity that is in the air, on the surface of the sea and below the surface of the sea,\u201d he added. \u201cYou have to shape the air wing to best handle that activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin said the F-35 squadrons should \u201cget bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re probably going to go to a 14-aircraft squadron vice 10,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve heard noise of us thinking around the possibility of going to a 20-aircraft squadron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several crew members on the carrier told Defense News they struggled with the high \u201cdeck density,\u201d or the number of aircraft given the amount of space on the flight deck and the hangar bay, early in the deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they said it got easier as they learned more about how to move the aircraft around. The F-35C, for example, is smaller than the F\/A-18 Super Hornet, but the F-35 requires more and larger ground support equipment. Simply adding more F-35Cs without taking anything away would definitely make it harder to tow aircraft around and manage the flight deck, but Martin said the new fighters add significant capabilities for the strike group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a brand-new aircraft with advanced sensors, so we like to pair that with a Growler to complement each other. And when you fly around that theater \u2026 they pull so much into the cockpit; the sensors onboard can see activity that other aircraft cannot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though his air wing already had two more Growlers that a typical air wing, Martin said \u201cwe\u2019re advocating for more because we saw the value of that aircraft in theater.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An F-35C Lightning II, assigned to the \u201cArgonauts\u201d of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, recovers on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Jan. 2, 2022. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Micheal Mensah\/US Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Navy has started reducing the number of helicopters it sends in an air wing, Martin said, which could free up room for more jets \u2014 but he said he had 19 helos and \u201cwe needed all of them.\u201d Martin said he sent his MH-60s on long flights for anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, search and rescue and other missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the larger air wing, Carl Vinson Commanding Officer Capt. P. Scott Miller said in an address to the crew on the 1MC \u201cwe had no aircraft-to-aircraft crunches throughout the entire deployment \u2026 in either the hangar bay or the flight deck,\u201d a safety feat no one on his staff could recall achieving in other deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin acknowledged the challenges that would come with adding more aircraft into finite hangar and flight deck space, but said it\u2019s important for the Navy to \u201cshape the air wing that\u2019s relevant for the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on 7th Fleet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

For the West Coast carrier fleet, the threat is now China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas previous Pacific Fleet carrier strike groups could expect to sail through 7th Fleet on the way to 5th Fleet \u2014 maybe stopping for an exercise or two on the way there or back \u2014 this deployment focused entirely on the region that\u2019s the top priority under the National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller said in a separate interview with reporters \u201cwe did start heading in that direction, and then turned around as it closed,\u201d referring to the end of the mission in Afghanistan that has required so much naval aviation support over the last 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of a mission of presence and being prepared to project power if required, as opposed to an active operational power projection mission,\u201d Miller said of 7th Fleet compared to 5th Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a different shift in mindset for sure when you know you\u2019re going to go drop bombs \u2026 in a long-running conflict, [compared to] operating in or near specifically the [People\u2019s Republic of China] and not wanting to do that but needing to be prepared to respond in an appropriate manner at any moment,\u201d Miller added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. 3rd Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, who flew out to the carrier on Feb. 14 as it headed toward the North San Diego Bay, told the crew over the 1MC its work was strategically important to the Navy and the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first deployment in a long time where the aircraft carrier and the strike group has stayed in the South China Sea, in the Philippine Sea, and in the 7th Fleet [area of responsibility], and it\u2019s indicative of the competition amongst great powers,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the end, to compete, you\u2019ve got to be on the court to win. And you all spending all that time in the 7th Fleet AOR is indicative of that competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin said that competition was evident to the carrier strike group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce you even get close to the South China Sea, you can bank on Chinese ships coming out to meet you and escort you in. You never make a move without an escort, which is why we try to make some moves that are unpredictable to try to scrape off some escorts,\u201d he said, adding that he tried to keep the carrier traveling at 25 knots or faster through the South China Sea to remain unpredictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn that sea space, you\u2019ve gotta move fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he said it takes a toll on the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these sailors and all these young officers learned how to operate with a persistent presence of the PRC, day and night, so that meant standing alert, watches are fully energized throughout the night. And they figured out the resiliency piece of always being on edge, of moving the strike group quickly, keeping your speed up and being unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operating amid COVID<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Martin said the deployment was also made tougher by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the crew was working at a high operational tempo in a tough operating area, they only made two port visits to Guam and one to Yokosuka in Japan for rest and maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each port visit led to a couple COVID-19 cases among the crew, he said, but \u201cwe proved to the Navy, and I hope it goes beyond that, that we can fight through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d pull into port \u2014 we didn\u2019t get very many port visits \u2014 but we\u2019d pull out with some cases, and we\u2019d see our numbers climb a little bit, and plateau, and then drastically fall,\u201d Martin added. \u201cOver the course of about two to three weeks, we could beat it back down to zero.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin said the COVID-19 cases never affected the strike group\u2019s ability to operate or stand watch, and he said it proved the Navy\u2019s protocols work in a self-contained environment like a CSG on deployment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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