|
VMF-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-35 Lightning II, 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 24 June 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 Espírito Santo, Turtle Bay Airfield, Turtle Bay, Bougainville Island, Bougainville, and Emirau. On 15 September 1944, the Green Knights landed on Peleliu and fought there until 25 July 1945. They returned to the Uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Second World War. The disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as aircraft became available. With a top speed of , the Wildcat was outperformed by the faster [], more maneuverable, and longer-ranged Mitsubishi A6M Zero. US Navy pilots, including John Thach, John "Jimmy" Thach, a pioneer of fighter tactics to deal with the A6M Zero, were greatly dissatisfied with the Wildcat's inferior performance against the Zero in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. The Wildcat has a Confirmation and overclaiming of aerial victories ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Close Air Support
Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of all forces involved. CAS may be conducted using 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 forces if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire and movement of those forces. A closely related subset of air interdiction, battlefield air interdiction, denotes interdiction against units with near-term effects on friendly units, but which does not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced that airstrikes against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had begun in Afghanistan. Beyond the military actions in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom was also affiliated with counterterrorism operations in other countries, such as OEF-Philippines and OEF-Trans Sahara. After 13 years, on 28 December 2014, President Barack Obama announced the end of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Subsequent operations in Afghanistan by the United States' military forces, both non-combat and combat, occurred under the name Operation Freedom's Sentinel. Subordinate operations Operation Enduring Freedom referred to the U.S.-led combat mission in Afghanistan. The codename was also used f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ... [...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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is 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 six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Marine Corps has been part of the United States 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 ... [...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, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and attack aircraft, 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 CTOL, conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, the STOVL, short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, and the carrier-based, carrier variant (CV) Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery, 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 program, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program intended to replace the General Dynami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, 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 and Northrop Corporation, Northrop, 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, glass cockpit, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform escort fighter, fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-9 Cougar
The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based jet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Grumman. It was developed during the early 1950s on behalf of the United States Navy (US Navy) and United States Marine Corps (USMC), which were keen to quickly introduce a naval fighter equipped with a swept wing. Grumman's design team decided to adapt its earlier F9F Panther, replacing the straight wing of the Panther with a new swept wing. Thrust was also increased with the installation of a newer and more powerful engine. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained limited to subsonic speeds. The first prototype (XF9F-6), which was produced by modifying an existing Panther, performed its maiden flight on 20 September 1951. The Navy considered the Cougar to be an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F-6. During December 1952, the F9F-6 was introduced to service, VF-32 being t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F8F Bearcat
The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engined, 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. Adapted 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 engine. Anot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
