Marines Test 'Lightning Carrier' Concept

choi

Megan Eckstein, Marines Test 'Lightning Carrier' Concept, Control 13 F-35Bs from Multiple Amphibs. USNI News, Oct 23, 2019
https://news.usni.org/2019/10/23 ... om-multiple-amphibs

Note:
(a) USNI stands for United States Naval Institute
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Naval_Institute
(section 2 United States Naval Institute, section 2.4 USNI News)

(b) "The Navy and Marine Corps recently tested out the 'Lightning Carrier' concept of packing an amphibious assault ship with F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter jets * * * On Oct 8, USS America (LHA-8 [sic; should be LHA-6; LHA-8 is the third ship of America-class amphibious assault ships, USS Bougainville, whose construction is at the early stage]) was photographed with 13 F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122 on its deck. America is one of two aviation-centric amphibious assault ships in the fleet, eliminating a well deck from its design and instead using that vast space for aviation maintenance areas, greater jet fuel storage and more.  Knowing that America and sister ship Tripoli (LHA-7) would have the capability to support so many F-35Bs, the services have long talked about the Lightning Carrier concept"
(i) The term "Lightning Carrier" has the first word from Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
, which has three models: A, B and C. Model B is capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL).

Designated "Lightning II" due to a previous namesake: Lockheed P-38 Lightning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning
(fighter; Introduction 1941; Retired 1965 (US Air Force) )
(ii) "Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122"
(A) Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 is shortened to VMFA 122, where MFA comes from "Marine Fighter Attack."
(B) list of active United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li ... _aircraft_squadrons
(section 1 Squadron designations: "The basic tactical and administrative unit of United States Marine Corps aviation is the squadron. Fixed-wing aircraft squadrons (heavier than air) and tiltrotor squadrons are denoted by the letter "V," which comes from the Spanish verb 'volar' (to fly). Rotary wing (helicopter) squadrons use 'H' ")

Navy is the same: V for "fixed-wing aircraft squadrons (heavier than air) and tiltrotor squadrons."

from the Web: "Originally, back when the US Navy began creating aircraft squadron designations, the letter 'V' denoted an aircraft that was 'heavier than air' while the letter 'Z' was used for dirigibles [or, airships] that were 'lighter than air.'  As the Navy and Marine aviation divisions grew and lighter than air aircraft were removed from service, the letter 'V' was changes to denote a 'Fixed Wing' aircraft." (that author failed to consider tiltrotor aircraft.)
(iii) LHA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LHA
(may refer to: "LHA (for "Landing Helicopter Assault"), US Navy hull classification symbol for general purpose amphibious assault ships of the Tarawa class and forthcoming America class")
America (commissioned 2014) and Tripoli (not commissioned yet, per Google News)
(iv) well deck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_deck
("In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft * * * Late-20th-century commercial and military amphibious ships have applied the term to an entirely different type of hangar-like structure")
(A) What is the purpose of the well deck "in traditional nautical use"?

A picture is worth a thousand words. See
Merchant Ship Shapes Division of Naval Intelligence - Identification and Characteristics Section. Naval History and Heritage Command, 1944 (ONI 223M, where ONI stands for Office of Naval Intelligence (1882- ))
https://www.history.navy.mil/res ... nt-ship-shapes.html
("Since the well [deck] is filled with deck cargo, this ship, seen in profile, might easily appear to be a flush-decker")

Presumably some cargo was below deck, protected from weather.
(B) In "[l]ate-20th-century commercial and military amphibious ships" the well deck is for loading and unloading cargo or personnel in landing vehicles, both below deck. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_deck
, where a photo has the caption: "A landing craft approaches the well deck of TCD Ouragan."

(c) "though the jets routinely operate on the forward-deployed big-deck in Japan and have conducted a deployment from the U.S.-based Essex Amphibious Ready Group, operating so many at once is much different than previous operations with about six jets onboard"
(i) "[T]he forward-deployed big-deck in Japan" allides to USS Wasp (LHD-1)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wasp_(LHD-1)
(Homeport: Sasebo, Japan; "Wasp and her sister ships are the first specifically designed to accommodate * * * Harrier II (AV-8B) Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) jets")
(A) LHD stands for Landing helicopter dock.
(B) Amphibious Assault Ships - LHD/LHA(R). US Navy, undated (under the heading "Fact File")
https://www.navy.mil/navydata/fa ... mp;tid=400&ct=4
(ii) amphibious ready group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious_ready_group
("The Wasp-class LHDs are currently the largest amphibious ships in the world. The lead ship, USS Wasp (LHD 1) was commissioned in July 1989 in Norfolk, Virginia. The delivery of LHA Replacement or LHA(R) America-class ships is the next step in the incremental development of the 'Big Deck Amphib' ")

LHA(R)?  Remember USS America is LHA-6: still an LHA. But America-class amphibious assault ship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am ... ibious_assault_ship
("formerly the LHA(R) class")
, where R stands for Replacement -- meaning 2.0 version, whose designation was scrapped.

(d) "The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier can stay out and sustain itself for longer than can an amphibious ship, and its larger flight deck and crew can support a higher tempo of flight operations. However, in terms of capability, the only thing the Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation component lacks compared to an air wing is an airborne early warning capability, and the Marines' large Group 5 unmanned aerial system they will field next decade will handle that mission."
(i) United States has nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. All other military use traditional power.
(ii) US military UAS groups
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._military_UAS_groups
(section 1 DoD UAS Groups: 1 to 5)