Joint Strike Fighter Wing
| Joint Strike Fighter Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 October 2018 - Present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Type | Fighter/Attack |
| Role | Type Wing |
| Garrison/HQ |  NAS Lemoore |
| Motto(s) | "Victoria per Furtim" (Latin for "Victory through Stealth") |
| Website | https://www.airpac.navy.mil/Organization/Joint-Strike-Fighter-Wing/ |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | CPT. Barrett "Farva" Smith |
| Command Master Chief | CMDCM. Andres R. Rallojay |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-35C Lightning II |
Joint Strike Fighter Wing (JSFW) (aka Joint Strike Fighter Wing, Pacific, and JSFWING) is the U.S. Navy's Fifth-generation fighter squadron wing. It oversees 4 squadrons that all fly the F-35C Lightning II. The wing, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California, is also home to the West Coast F-35C Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) VFA-125, which is the only F-35C FRS in the US Navy. It trains pilots in the jet before they get to be assigned to operational fleet squadrons.
History
[edit]The Joint Strike Fighter Wing was established on 1 October 2018 at NAS Lemoore under Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing, to oversee training and mission readiness of all F-35C squadrons as the US Navy increased its inventory of that aircraft.[1] It was established around the same time that VFA-125 and VFA-147 were transitioned to the F-35C Lightning II.[2] The vision statement of JSFW is to create warfighting readiness for all F-35C squadrons and make them into professional, successful, deployable combat forces.[3]
Mission
[edit]When it was first established in 2018, the initial objective of JSFW was to get VFA-147 ready for operational testing and for its upcoming Initial Operational Capability (IOC) declaration.[1] The unit passed all testing and achieved IOC on 28 February 2019.[4] JSFWING's current broad mission is to provide the US Navy Carrier Air Wings (CVWs) with combat-ready Fifth-generation fighter squadrons. Currently, the only aircraft the US Navy flies that classifies as a 5th generation fighter is the F-35C Lightning II. The wing trains the pilots in its squadrons for Electronic attack and Strike fighter missions. JSFW is in charge of operating F-35C Fleet Replacement Squadrons. The only F-35C FRS is currently VFA-125 based at NAS Lemoore. JSFW has also been tasked with meeting Naval Aviation Enterprise requirements to qualify its aircraft as Ready for Tasking (RFT).[3] RFT is similar to the classification of Full Mission Capable (FMC) but is less demanding and only requires that a fraction of all aircraft in the command can perform a given mission at a time. For example, a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet on a precision strike mission could be designated as RFT even if it would not be able to perform aerial refueling, another of its missions, on the same flight.[5]
Assigned units
[edit]Joint Strike Fighter Wing exercises command over 3 operational squadrons and 1 FRS squadron (VFA-125).[3] The squadrons in the following list are organized chronologically from top to bottom based on when they transitioned to the F-35C Lightning II. The year they became a F-35C squadron is listed in parentheses.[2][6]
- VFA-125 "Rough Raiders" (2017)
- VFA-147 "Argonauts" (2018)
- VFA-97 "Warhawks" (2021)
- VFA-86 "Sidewinders" (2023)
See also
[edit]- Naval aviation
- List of US Naval aircraft
- List of United States Navy aircraft wings
- List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons
- Modern US Navy carrier air operations
References
[edit]- ^ a b Eckstein, Megan (29 November 2018). "Navy Stands Up Joint Strike Fighter Wing to Oversee F-35C Operations, Training, Manning". USNI News. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ a b Keijsper, Gerard (21 February 2023). "US Navy and USMC F-35B/C Squadrons: A Complete Guide". Key Aero. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "Joint Strike Fighter Wing - About Us". Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ Donald, David (1 March 2019). "F-35C Achieves IOC; Singapore Details Initial F-35 Buy". Aviation International News. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ Brooks, Bradley A. (1 February 2013). "Correlation of Ready for Tasking to Full Mission Capable Metrics for F/A-18E/F" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ "Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86". The Wayback Machine. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.