USMC F-35Bs at Iwakuni

Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft, belonging to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121 ‘Green Knights’), Marine Aircraft Group 12, arrived at Marine Corps Air Station at Iwakuni on 18 January 2017, beginning the squadron’s permanent basing at the air station, and marking the first major overseas deployment of the type.

The F-35B is the future of Marine Corps fighter aviation and incorporates into a single airframe the mission capabilities of a range of current Marine Corps platforms that it will eventually replace. These include the AV-8B Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet, and EA-6B Prowler. In addition to its Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capability, the F-35B’s combination of stealth, cutting-edge radar, sensor technology, and electronic warfare systems bring together all of the access and lethality capabilities of a fifth-generation fighter, a modern bomber, and an adverse-weather, all-threat environment air support platform.