{"id":53354,"date":"2019-02-28T15:23:27","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T15:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/28\/us-navy-on-the-verge-of-a-major-milestone-for-its-new-stealth-fighter\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:58:39","slug":"us-navy-on-the-verge-of-a-major-milestone-for-its-new-stealth-fighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/02\/28\/us-navy-on-the-verge-of-a-major-milestone-for-its-new-stealth-fighter\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Navy\u2019s new stealth fighter just hit a major milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This story has been updated to reflect the U.S. Navy\u2019s official IOC announcement.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Navy declared the carrier-launched version of L<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2018\/08\/29\/after-nearly-2-decades-in-development-the-us-navy-is-close-to-operating-with-its-new-stealth-fighter\/\" target=\"_blank\">ockheed Martin\u2019s F-35 fighter<\/a> ready to deploy Thursday, a major milestone nearly two decades in the making, according to news release from U.S. Naval Air Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ten Block 3F F-35Cs from Strike Fighter Squadron 147 completed carrier qualifications aboard the Carl Vinson and received safe-for-flight operations certification, the release said, leading the Navy to declare initial operating capability. The announcement was in line with its previously announced intention to declare IOC in February 2019, which was spelled out in a <a href=\"https:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/documents\/services-set-ioc-dates-for-f-35s-confidence-is-the-watchword\/\" target=_blank>2013 report to Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The declaration means the plane can deploy in some reduced capacity, but the jet has yet to reach full operational capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win,\u201d Naval Air Forces head Vice Adm, DeWolfe Miller said in the release. \u201cWe are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to achieve IOC, the Navy had to hit a number of wickets: VFA-147 had to be certified as properly manned, trained and equipped to conduct missions, including having the 10 aircraft, spare parts, support equipment, tools, technical publications, training programs and a functional Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS), the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship designated to support the squadron had to have all its infrastructure and training in place as well, and the joint program office and industry support also had to demonstrate its readiness to support the aircraft, according to the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The squadron, wing and various support functions will be based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The F-35C, a descendant of Lockheed Martin\u2019s X-35 that first flew in 2000, will be substantially different from its F\/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet forerunners. Some of its chief virtues lie more with what it won\u2019t be shooting rather than what it will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1162\" height=\"653\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/35_up_close.jpg_d1c704.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/35_up_close.jpg_d1c704.jpg 1162w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/35_up_close.jpg_d1c704.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/35_up_close.jpg_d1c704.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/35_up_close.jpg_d1c704.jpg?resize=1024,575 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1162px) 100vw, 1162px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An F-35C maneuvers after landing on the flight deck of the carrier Abraham Lincoln, operating off the coast of Virginia. (Staff photo by David B. Larter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its passive sensors and target-sharing capabilities accelerate the Navy down a path it\u2019s been forging since China and Russia became challenges to U.S. primacy in the world: moving away from large, active sensors, such as the AN\/SPY-1 anti-air warfare radars that are easy to detect with electronic warfare equipment, and relying more on passive sensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy is driving toward combining the aircraft\u2019s stealth characteristics with the ability to passively develop and share kill-quality target data with other aircraft \u2014 Super Hornets equipped with Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, for example, or even cruisers and destroyers specializing in anti-air warfare \u2014 allowing the fighter to let others do the shooting while it remains undetected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while electronic and cyber intrusions are ever-present concerns for the targeting network under development, the Navy\u2019s fielding of missiles with ever-increasing range \u2014 such as Raytheon\u2019s SM-6 \u2014 pushes the battlespace for the Navy\u2019s surface shooters out to ranges that would be difficult to fathom three decades ago, the last time the U.S. had a significant geostrategic competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The head of the Navy\u2019s F-35C integration office said the new jet will change the way the Navy fights in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe F-35C will revolutionize capability and operating concepts of aircraft carrier-based naval aviation using advanced technologies to find, fix and assess threats and, if necessary, track, target and engage them in all contested environments,\u201d said Rear Admiral Dale Horan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis accomplishment represents years of hard work on the part of the F-35 Joint Program Office and Naval Aviation Enterprise. Our focus has now shifted to applying lessons learned from this process to future squadron transitions, and preparing VFA-147 for their first overseas deployment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Navy has declared the carrier-launched version of Lockheed Martin\u2019s F-35 fighter ready to deploy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3361],"class_list":["post-53354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4ED3VD42XZHEFNVRWATOZWIWJI","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2019\/02\/28\/us-navy-on-the-verge-of-a-major-milestone-for-its-new-stealth-fighter\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The US Navy\u2019s new stealth fighter just hit a major milestone - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The U.S. Navy has declared the carrier-launched version of Lockheed Martin\u2019s F-35 fighter ready to deploy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The US Navy\u2019s new stealth fighter just hit a major milestone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. Navy has declared the carrier-launched version of Lockheed Martin\u2019s F-35 fighter ready to deploy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/02\/28\/us-navy-on-the-verge-of-a-major-milestone-for-its-new-stealth-fighter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-28T15:23:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David B. 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