Air Force tacticians and aggressors from Nellis AFB, Nev., recently aided the Marine Corps’ first integration of the F-35B Lightning II int?o a large-scale employment exercise at the Nevada Test and Training Range. “We’ve leveraged the Air Force heavily because the Air Force is way ahead of the game in terms of fourth to fifth integration—integrating fourth-gen assets like the F-15 with fifth-gen assets like the F-22,” said Marine Corps Maj. Geoff Franks, Marine Aviation Weapons Tactics Squadron 1 instructor pilot in a release. Marine F-35s are slated to reach initial operating c?apability this summer and “we need to be postured to teach tactics … so the marine F-18 fleet will be able to start integrating with the F-35s,” he added. The F-35s flew contested ground-strike sorties alongside F-18s, during the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course capstone exercise, April 21. The Air Force Weapons School at Nellis is implementing a three-phase plan to build F-35 weapons officers for the first operational F-35 squadrons, by leveraging expertise from across USAF’s fighter community.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.