DefenceTalkADAZI MILITARY BASE, Latvia: A multinational force including U.S. Marines partnered together for a large-scale NATO exercise in the Baltics demonstrating their ability to defend the alliance. Exercise Saber Strike 16 included U.S. Marines from Black Sea Rotational Force based in Romania, and Combat Logistics Regiment 2 out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. “We fight […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-nato-allies-conduct-large-scale-exercise-to-defend-baltics-67712/

DefenceTalkArmed Forces from 13 NATO countries, including Marines with the Black Sea Rotational Force and Combat Logistics Regiment 2, will gather for Exercise Saber Strike. They are taking part in an annual exercise to improve their ability to quickly move troops and prepositioned equipment from caves in Norway wherever the next conflict should occur. “Operation […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-nato-allies-converge-for-war-time-scenario-67629/

DefenceTalkSikorsky Aircraft Corp. today announced the successful first flight of the U.S. Marine Corps’ CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter protoype, known as Engineering Development Model-1 (EDM-1). The 30-minute flight signals the beginning of a 2,000-hour flight test program using four test aircraft. “EDM-1’s first flight signifies another major milestone for the CH-53K helicopter program,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ch-53k-helicopter-achieves-first-flight-65696/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35B Lightning II aircraft reached initial operational capability July 31, 2015 with a squadron of 10 F-35Bs ready for world-wide deployment. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), based in Yuma, Arizona, is the first squadron in military history to become operational with an F-35 variant, following a five-day Operational Readiness Inspection, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-marines-corps-declares-the-f-35b-operational-64945/

DefenceTalkMARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS: Halfway into a 109-degree day, without a cloud in the sky and nothing but sand as far as the eye could see, a small number of Marines and sailors were prepared to do their job and be the difference between life and death. 4th Medical Battalion, 4th […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-marines-sailors-participate-in-a-mass-heat-casualty-exercise-64682/

DefenceTalkThe Marine Corps F-35B operational test (OT-1) successfully concluded aboard a U.S. Navy amphibious ship, USS Wasp (LHD-1), on May 29, 2015. Setting off from Norfolk, Virginia on May 18, USS Wasp cut an arc between 50 and 100 miles off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, as Marine Corps pilots safely conducted 100 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/marine-corps-proves-f-35bs-capability-at-sea-64424/

DefenceTalkMarines and sailors have worked together since May 18 to conduct Operational Testing 1, the assessment of the integration of the F-35B Lightning II, at sea, aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1). Throughout OT-1, the aircraft and personnel involved have been challenged with a wide variety of flight and deck operations, allowing the gathering of data which […]https://www.defencetalk.com/marines-make-progress-with-f-35b-during-ot-1-64354/

DefenceTalkSix U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jet aircraft arrived Monday evening aboard the USS WASP off the coast of the United States’ Eastern Seaboard to mark the beginning of the first shipboard phase of the F-35B Operational Test (OT-1). The at-sea period will continue aboard USS WASP for the next two weeks, with fleet […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-marine-corps-begins-f-35b-operational-trials-64249/

DefenceTalkSpain said Friday it was starting negotiations with Washington to host a permanent US Marines intervention force for deployment on missions to Africa. The Spanish government said it was ready to permanently extend an agreement under which the force has been based at Moron de la Frontera, near Seville in southern Spain. The government approved […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spain-negotiates-permanent-us-marines-africa-force-62220/

DefenceTalkThe first F-35C Lightning II, carrier variant, for the U.S. Marine Corps touched-down on the flight line here, Jan. 13, from the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas, to begin training in support of carrier-based operations. U.S. Marine Lt. Col. J.T. “Tank” Ryan, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 501 detachment commander and F-35 pilot, delivered […]https://www.defencetalk.com/marines-receive-first-f-35c-lightning-ii-carrier-variant-62212/