On January 21, the first Lockheed Martin F-35C joined the Third Marine Air Wing at MCAS Miramar, California. The aircraft is assigned to VMFA-314 “Black Knights,” the first Marine squadron to operate the carrier-capable version. The Corps is acquiring a total of 80 F-35Cs, which will equip four operational squadrons, each with 10 aircraft. Others will be used for training and as a reserve.
The “Black Knights”—with a long and distinguished operational career—are no strangers to introducing new types, having been the first Marine unit to fly the F-4 Phantom in 1962, and in 1983 became the first unit in any service to adopt the F/A-18A Hornet. Having flown its last Hornet missions in June 2019, the squadron has been training on the F-35C throughout the latter half of the year with the joint Navy/Marines Fleet Replenishment Squadron (VFA-125 “Rough Raiders”) at NAS Lemoore, California, from where the aircraft was flown into Miramar. A number of Marine F-35Cs have already been delivered to VFA-125 and the training unit (VFA-101 “Grim Reapers”) at Eglin AFB, Florida, to aid the conversion process.
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