F-35C Lightning II stealth fighters on their way to Australia from California prepare for aerial refueling over the Pacific Ocean, June 17, 2023. (Gadiel Zaragoza/U.S. Marine Corps)
Four Marine Corps F-35C Lightning IIs flew from California to Australia last month, the first time the stealth jets made the 7,800-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, according to the service.
The aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 departed Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., June 17, and arrived five days later at Royal Australian Air Force Base Williamtown in New South Wales, Australia, a June 24 release said.
The aircraft, designed specifically for carrier operations, are in Australia ahead of the biennial Talisman Sabre drills, scheduled to draw about 30,000 personnel, mostly from the United States and Australia, from July 22 to Aug. 4.
The Marine F-35Cs are Down Under for the first time, but Marine F-35Bs, capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, trained in Australia last summer.
The F-35Cs made four stopovers on their flight south and were supported with cargo and personnel flying in a KC-130J Super Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, the Marines’ release said.
KC-135 Stratotankers from the 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and 108th Air Refueling Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, refueled the F-35s during the journey, according to the release.
“The VMFA-314 Black Knights are beyond excited to bring the first land-based [1st Marine Expeditionary Force] fifth-generation stealth fighters all the way from California to Australia,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Michael O’Brien said in the release. “Over the past year, we’ve trained in our own Marine Corps F-35Cs with the Royal Australian Air Force F-35As and E-7 Wedgetails in the U.S., and now it is time to train with our valued Allies on their side of the globe.”
The F-35s will work with Australian forces at Williamtown through mid-July, the release said.
Australia is in the latter stages of procuring its F-35A fleet and may buy more, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, a former deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said by email Thursday.
Australia’s first F-35A squadron became operational in 2021 and the country’s entire fleet of stealth jets is due to be operational this year, according to the RAAF’s website.
“But the investment by both countries in maximizing the combat capability — and thus, if potential adversaries are paying attention, deterrent power — is more important than numbers,” Leaf said. “This is yet another example of like-minded nations, namely the U.S., its Allies and partners, drawn closer in security cooperation by concerns about China’s words and deeds and the tragic exemplar of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Deployments such as the F-35C mission to Australia aren’t simple, Grant Newsham, a senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, said in an email the same day.
“But one notes that Marine fighters have been making Trans-Pacific deployments for decades,” he said.
The F-35C trans-Pacific flight isn’t a game-changer but it demonstrates America’s broader military power, Newsham said.
“Indeed, at least for a few years to come the US still has a power projection advantage over the [Chinese military] and everyone else,” he said. “China knows this of course and is working to close the gap.”
