The U.S. Marine Corps announced that it is determined to meet its goal of having its first squadron of 10 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters ready for combat in July 2015. In an interview with Reuters, outgoing Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos was asked if the Marines would miss the target date for declaring an initial operational capability (IOC). He responded, "It's too soon to flinch. It's a tight timeline, but I think it's doable. I'm a realist. If it's August, it's August . . . There is some risk of a mid-summer IOC, but we've known that all along." The Marines plan to buy 340 F-35B series jets-which can take off from short runways and land vertically, as well as 80 F-35C models-equipped with longer wings and tailhooks for carrier operations.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/ownership/marines-well-deploy-f-35-on-time