F-35C Order Spike Deepens Marine Corps Shift To Blue Water Ops

The U.S. Marine Corps will deepen a long-term shift in its fighter fleet mix away from the prized short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 in favor of closer integration with the U.S. Navy’s carrier air wings.

The 2025 Marine Aviation Plan released on Feb. 3 converts future orders of 73 hover-capable F-35B aircraft to the F-35C model, which is designed to operate from land as well as the Navy’s large aircraft carriers.

In the long term, the change doubles the number of operational F-35C squadrons in the Marine Corps to eight, nearly matching the Navy’s nine-carrier-air-wing structure. At the same time, the number of combat-coded F-35B squadrons will decline by one-fourth to 12, excluding training and test units.

• The move adds 73 F-35Cs to the Marine Corps program
• The shift takes effect in the early 2030s

Although announced in the latest Marine Aviation Plan, the transition does not start until the early 2030s. Marine Fighter Attack Sqdn. 232, which currently operates AV-8B Harrier II jets, will convert to F-35Cs instead of F-35Bs in fiscal 2031. Marine Fighter Attack Sqdns. 323, 112 and 134 will then exchange Boeing F/A-18C/Ds for F-35Cs by mid-fiscal 2032.

The conversions also complete the sunset of all combat-coded AV-8B and F/A-18C/D units in the Marine Corps fleet. During fiscal 2032-35, the Marines plan to expand all combat-coded F-35B squadrons to 12 aircraft each, adding two aircraft, two pilots and 25 maintainers to each unit. At the time, the service’s tactical aviation branch will be consolidated around two versions of the F-35.

The total number of F-35s to be acquired by the Marine Corps remains unchanged at 420, although six jets—five F-35Bs and one F-35C—have been lost in crashes since 2016. The number of Marine Corps F-35Bs falls to 280, and another 222 orders are anticipated from four international operators. Lockheed now expects a total of 413 orders for the F-35C, split between 140 for the Marines and 273 for the Navy.

But the fleet mix within the Marine Corps continues a long-term tilt away from the F-35B, the variant designed to replace the AV-8B and operate from the Navy’s amphibious assault ships at sea and forward operating bases on land.

At first, Marine Corps Aviation was reluctant to buy the larger-wing F-35C. Despite signing an agreement with the Navy more than 20 years ago to integrate Marine fighters on large-deck carriers, only short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35Bs filled the amphibious service’s program of record through 2011. Even then, the Marines agreed to buy only four squadrons of the F-35Cs, fewer than half the number of the Navy’s carrier air wings.

But in 2019, then-Commandant Gen. David Berger reoriented the Marine Corps back to its blue water roots with his controversial Planning Guidance. The move implied a greater role for Marine aviation on the Navy’s large aircraft carriers, which accommodate only the F-35C. Marine Col. George Rowell, then aviation requirements officer, acknowledged the shift in a presentation at the Tailhook Association’s annual reunion that year. “I anticipate a closer relationship between the Navy and Marine Corps on big deck carriers,” he said. (AW&ST Sept. 16-29, 2019)

In the short term, the shift changes little within the F-35 program’s bureaucratic statistics. For public reporting purposes, the Joint Program Office tracks only average unit costs across all three variants at the same time, so a large reduction of orders for one variant leads to only a “marginal” overall pricing impact, an office spokesperson says.

“The Joint Program Office has worked closely with Marine Aviation on its Program of Record quantity rebalance and is already working to implement the updated plan,” the spokesperson adds.