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VFA-101
Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101), also known as the "Grim Reapers", was a United States Navy Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) based at Eglin AFB, Florida. After the West Coast FRS for the F-14 Tomcat, VF-124, was disestablished in the mid-1990s, VF-101 became the sole F-14 FRS. At the time it was based at NAS Oceana in Virginia. With the retirement of the F-14, VF-101 was deactivated in 2005. It was reactivated in 2012 and redesignated Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101). It was one of two F-35C Lightning II FRS before being deactivated in 2019. It was based at Eglin AFB, Florida with the joint 33d Fighter Wing (33 FW), as a subordinate unit of the U.S. Navy's Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet. History Two distinct squadrons have been called the ''Grim Reapers'', VF-10 and later VF-101, which is the main subject of this article. Officially, the US Navy does not recognize a direct lineage with disestablished squadrons if a new squadron is formed with the sam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fleet Replacement Squadron
A Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), is a unit of the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps that trains United States Naval Aviator, Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers (NFOs) and enlisted Naval aircrewman, Naval Aircrewmen on the specific front-line aircraft they have been assigned to fly. Students, referred to as Replacement Pilots, Replacement Flight Officers or Replacement Aircrew are either newly winged aviators (Category I), aviators transitioning from one type aircraft to another (Category II), or aviators returning to the cockpit after a period of non-flying (Category III). After completing the training regimen, graduates are assigned to fleet squadrons. Additionally, FRSs are responsible for training aircraft mechanics, providing replacement aircraft for fleet squadron attrition, and standardizing maintenance and aircraft operations. The U.S. Navy and U.S Marine Corps sometimes share FRSs. For example, up until the recent establishment of an F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-35C
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has 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 variant (CV) catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (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 intended to replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, and the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II "jump jet", among others. Its development is principally funded by the United States, with additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
33d Fighter Wing
The 33rd Fighter Wing, sometimes written 33d Fighter Wing, (33 FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Education and Training Command's Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida where it is a tenant unit. The 33 FW is an AETC training unit. Its main mission is to train United States Air Force and partner nation pilots and maintainers on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. When the wing was initially assigned the F-35 training mission on 1 October 2009 it was to include USN/USMC F-35C and USMC F-35B training as well as USAF F-35A and international partner training. Navy squadron VFA-101 was assigned to the wing to conduct F-35C training and USMC squadron VMFAT-501 to conduct F-35B training. In July 2014 VMFAT-501 was detached from the 33rd Fighter Wing and reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) at MCAS Beaufort, SC ending the USMC presence in the wing. In December 2017 the USN reactivated VFA-125 at NAS Lemoore, CA und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the collapse of the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B, General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project. A large and well-equipped fighter, the F-14 was the first of the American Teen Series fighters, which were designed incorporating aerial warfare, air combat experience against smaller, more maneuverable List of Mikoyan and MiG aircraft, MiG fighters during the Vietnam War. The F-14 first flew on 21 December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier , replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor aircraft, interceptor, and tac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) systems. Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lieutenant colonel (United States), Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 attack aircraft on a flight from Langley AFB, Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama. History Creation and World War II Much of the base was part of a United States National Forest, national forest until the outbreak of World War II in Europe when a proving ground for aircraft armament was esta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VF-124
Fighter Squadron 124 or VF-124 ''Gunfighters'' was a fleet replacement squadron (FRS) of the United States Navy. Originally established on 16 August 1948 as VF-53, it was redesignated VF-124 at NAS Moffett Field on 11 April 1958 due to a need for an increased number of flight training squadrons, itself necessary because of introduction of swept wing fighters into Navy service. In 1961, the squadron relocated to NAS Miramar, California, which would become the U.S. Pacific Fleet's Master Jet Base for fighter aircraft. The squadron's task as an FRS was the training of pilots for the F-8 Crusader, and later the training of pilots and radar intercept officers for the F-14 Tomcat. The squadron was disestablished on 30 September 1994 and its F-14 FRS mission consolidated with its U.S. Atlantic Fleet counterpart, VF-101, at NAS Oceana, Virginia. History Korean War VF-53 equipped with F4U-4B Corsairs was assigned to Carrier Air Group 5 aboard from 1 May to 1 December 1950 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eglin AFB
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) systems. Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 attack aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama. History Creation and World War II Much of the base was part of a national forest until the outbreak of World War II in Europe when a proving ground for aircraft armament was established at Eglin. The U.S. Forest Service ceded over of the Choctawhatchee National Forest to the War Department ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NAS Key West
Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an air-to-air combat training facility for fighter aircraft of all military services, with favorable flying conditions year round and nearby aerial ranges. The station and its associated offshore air combat maneuvering ranges are equipped with the P5 Combat Training System/Tactical Combat Training System (P5CTS/TCTS) which tracks and records aerial maneuvers. On a broader scale, NAS Key West's national security mission supports operational and readiness requirements for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security (e.g., U.S. Coast Guard), Air National Guard and Army National Guard units, other federal agencies, and allied military forces. The air station is also host to several tenant commands, including Fighter Squadron Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerial Refueling
Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft are in flight. The two main refueling systems are '' probe-and-drogue'', which is simpler to adapt to existing aircraft and the '' flying boom'', which offers faster fuel transfer, but requires a dedicated boom operator station. The procedure allows the receiving aircraft to remain airborne longer, extending its range or loiter time. A series of air refuelings can give range limited only by crew fatigue/physical needs and engineering factors such as engine oil consumption. Because the receiver aircraft is topped-off with extra fuel in the air, air refueling can allow a takeoff with a greater payload which could be weapons, cargo, or personnel: the maximum takeoff weight is maintained by carrying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern US Navy Carrier Air Operations
Modern United States Navy aircraft carrier air operations include the operation of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft on and around an aircraft carrier for performance of combat or noncombat missions. The flight operations are highly evolved, based on experiences dating back to 1922 with . Flight deck crew On an aircraft carrier flight deck, specialized crews are employed for the different roles utilized in managing air operations. The different flight deck crews wear colored jerseys to visually distinguish their functions. Everyone associated with the flight deck has a specific job, which is indicated by the color of their deck jersey, float coat and helmet. Rank is also denoted by the pattern of pants worn by flight deck crew: *Navy blue pants – Denotes junior sailors and petty officers. *Khaki pants – Denotes Chief petty officer, chief petty, Warrant officer, warrant and commissioned officers. This keeps in line with the traditional khaki color of CPO and officer servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Strikeback
Exercise Strikeback aka Operation Strikeback was a major naval exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that took place over a ten-day period in September 1957. As part of a series of exercises to simulate an all-out Soviet attack on NATO, Exercise Strikeback was tasked with two objectives. Its initial objective was the deployment of NATO's naval forces (designated the "Blue Fleet") against other NATO forces attempting to simulate an "enemy" navy that featured a large number of submarines (designated the "Orange Fleet"). Its other objective was to have the Blue Fleet execute carrier-based air strikes against "enemy" formations and emplacements along NATO's northern flank in Norway. Exercise Strikeback involved over 200 warships, 650 aircraft, and 75,000 personnel from the United States Navy, the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, the French Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the Royal Norwegian Navy. As the largest peacetime naval operation up to that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
