Best of 2017: Navy Qualifies Stealthy F-35C for Combat

The Navy’s stealthy carrier-launched F-35C is now moving much closer to combat readiness after conducting “carrier
qualification” exercises from the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of Southern Calif., service officials said.

The qualifications are designed to prepare pilots for the rigors of carrier air wing combat missions and further prepare the aircraft and its weapons systems for operational service.

By Kris Osborn

Carl Vinson air operations officer Cmdr. Joshua Hammond said (earlier this year) carrier qualifications are important because they allow the Carl Vinson to practice launching and recovering aircraft while helping qualify new pilots, according to a Navy statement from aboard the Carl Vinson.

“Being at sea for FRS (fleet replacement squadron) CQ gives us practice at what we do on deployment: launching and recovering aircraft,” Hammond. “We can’t always be underway with Carrier Air Wing, so these operations help us stay sharp and hone our craft while helping new pilots gain proficiency.” (Full Navy statement HERE)

Alongside the carrier qualifications on board the Carl Vinson, the Navy was also conducting testing of a special take-off mechanism known as the “hold back bar.” This is a technology which helps determine key elements of a carrier catapult launch such as the needed amount of thrust, speed and steadiness determined for a particular air frame.

“The reduced setting of repeatable release hold back bar performed well both test and fleet are pleased with the progress made in reducing the force of the ocillation seen during catapult shots. The fleet will continue the assessment of the bar,” Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Joint Program Office, JSF, told Warrior Maven earlier this year

Weapons preparation also continues to progress as part of the Navy’s push to bring the F-35C into combat. The F-35C has now been armed with a large, 5,000-pound load of weapons as part of a strategy to prepare the emerging aircraft for air-to-air engagements and air-to-ground attacks against enemy air defenses.