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VMFA-121
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), also known as the "Green Knights", is a United States Marine Corps aircraft squadron operating the F-35B Lightning II. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW). Their tail code is ''VK'' and their radio call sign is "Combat". History World War II Marine Fighting Squadron 121 (VMF-121) was activated on June 24, 1941. The Green Knights began combat operations flying the F4F Wildcat and later the F4U Corsair as charter members of the Cactus Air Force and throughout the Battle of Guadalcanal arriving in October 1942. The squadron also fought from the forward air bases of Espirito Santo, Turtle Bay, Bougainville, and Emirau. On September 15, 1944, the Green Knights landed on Peleliu and fought there until July 25, 1945. They returned to the United States to be deactivated on September 9, 1945. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni
is a United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History The Japanese government bought a large portion of what is today MCAS Iwakuni in 1938, with the view of establishing a naval air station. They commissioned the new base 8 July 1940. When World War II started, the Iwakuni air station was used as a training and defense base. The station housed 96 trainers and 150 Zero fighter planes on the airstrip. In September 1943, a branch of the Etajima Naval Academy was established here, with approximately 1,000 cadets undergoing training in the Basic, Junior and Senior Officer's schools at any one time. American B-29's bombed Iwakuni in May and August 1945, concentrating on the oil refinery and Rail Transport Office or train station areas. The last air raid took place just a day before the war was brought to a close. The first allies to reach Iwakuni at the war's end w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, the short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, and the carrier-based (CV/ CATOBAR) F-35C. The aircraft descends from the Lockheed Martin X-35, which in 2001 beat the Boeing X-32 to win the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is principally funded by the United States, with additional funding from program partner countries from NATO and close U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Aircraft Group 12
Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) is an active air group of the United States Marine Corps, tasked with providing fighter and assault support aircraft. It is currently part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), itself an integral part of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, and based at MCAS Iwakuni in Japan. Mission The mission of Marine Aircraft Group 12, as the tactical air arm of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, is to conduct air reconnaissance, electronic warfare, antiair warfare, offensive air support, control of aircraft and missiles, and assault support from advanced bases, expeditionary bases or the sea base supported by organic aviation logistics and aviation ground support logistics as required by III MEF and United States Pacific Command and be prepared to conduct such support and engagement operations as may be directed. Subordinate units F-35B Lightning II Squadron * VMFA-121 * VMFA-242 Unit Deployment Program Squadrons, one stateside-based squadron on a six-mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Close Air Support
In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces and attacks with aerial bombs, glide bombs, missiles, rockets, autocannons, machine guns, and even directed-energy weapons such as lasers.''Close Air Support''. United States Department of Defense, 2014. The requirement for detailed integration because of proximity, fires or movement is the determining factor. CAS may need to be conducted during shaping operations with Special Operations Forces (SOF) if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire and movement of those forces. A closely related subset of air interdiction (AI), battlefield air interdiction, denotes interdiction against units with near-term effects on friendly units, but which does not require integration with friendly troop movements. The ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A-1 Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly known as the AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s. The Skyraider had an unusually long career, remaining in front-line service well into the Jet Age (when most piston-engine attack or fighter aircraft were replaced by Jet aircraft); thus becoming known by some as an "anachronism". The aircraft was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter. It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the United States Marine Corps (USMC), and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the British Royal Navy, the French Air Force, the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF), and others. It remained in U.S. service until the early 1970s. The jet powered A-10 Thunderbolt II was based on specifications for a modernized Skyraider with a heavy payload and good endurance. Design and development The piston-engined, propeller-driven Skyraider was designed during World War I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cactus Air Force
Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. The term "Cactus" comes from the Allied code name for the island. In 1943, the Cactus Air Force was absorbed into AirSols, a joint command of Allied air units in the Solomon Islands. Background On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack crippled much of the U.S. battleship fleet and led to a state of war between the two nations. In launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the American fleet, seize possessions rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire. Japanese forces also attacked and took control of Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Wake Island, New Britain, and Guam. Two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Marine Corps has been part of the U.S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834 with its sister service, the United States Navy. The USMC operates installations on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world. Additionally, several of the Marines' tactical aviation squadrons, primarily Marine Fighter Attack squadrons, are also embedded in Navy carrier air wings and operate from the aircraft carriers. The history of the Marine Corps began when two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system, designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing) and Northrop Corporation, Northrop (now part of Northrop Grumman), the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels. The F/A-18 was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform escort f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-9 Cougar
The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Based on Grumman's earlier F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. Thrust was also increased with the installation of a newer, more powerful engine. The Navy considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F-6. Design and development Early development Rumors that the Soviet Union had produced a swept-wing fighter had circulated a year before the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 first appeared at air shows in 1949. Despite the level of activity taking place with swept-wing aircraft, the Navy was not initially focused on the development of such aircraft. This was largely because the Navy's focus at the time was defending the battle group against high speed, high altitude bombers with interceptors, as well as escorting medium-r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F8F Bearcat
The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other nations. It was Grumman Aircraft's last piston engined fighter aircraft. Modified versions of the Bearcat have broken speed records for piston-engined aircraft. Today, the Bearcat is popular among warbird owners and air racers. Design and development Concept The Bearcat concept began during a meeting between Battle of Midway veteran F4F Wildcat pilots and Grumman Vice President Jake Swirbul at Pearl Harbor on 23 June 1942. At the meeting, Lieutenant Commander Jimmie Thach emphasized one of the most important requirements in a good fighter plane was "climb rate". Climb performance is strongly related to the power-to-weight ratio, and is maximized by wrapping the smallest and lightest possible airframe around the most powerful available e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
