USMC explores F-35B operating concepts 20 Jun 2013 Dave Majumdar
"The US Marine Corps is working on several different operating concepts for the Lockheed Martin F-35S short take-off/vertical landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, according to a senior officer at the Paris air show.
Pilots at the USMC's weapons schools are working on detailed tactics execution, says Lt Gen Robert Schmidle, the service's deputy commandant for aviation....
...A second concept currently being examined is to deploy a whole squadron of 16 F-35Bs on board an amphibious assault ship, along with six MV-22s. Those MV-22s would be equipped with a roll-on/roll-off aerial refuelling kit which would greatly extend the range of the F-35B, Schmidle says. A MV-22 is going to be tested this "summer" with the aerial refueling kit.
That package of F-35Bs and MV-22 could also move ashore to implement the USMC's distributed operations concept, where small number of fighters would be based at multiple austere airfields, Schmidle says. The MV-22s would support the jets with cargo hauls and aerial refueling, he says. The jets would also move every few days to complicate the enemies' targeting problem...."
PARIS: USMC explores F-35B operating concepts