F-35B Is Finally Ready

choi

Marines Say Costly F-35 Jet Fighter Ready to Fight. Wall Street Journal, Aug 1, 2015.

Quote:

(a) “The declaration of initial operating capability, or IOC, means the first squadron of 10 F-35B jets based at Yuma Air Force Base in Arizona can now be called up to fight. * * * The first aircraft aren’t scheduled to be deployed overseas until 2017, when a squadron is due to be stationed in Japan.

“The F-35B model is the most expensive of three versions of the jet being developed, with the latest models costing around $134 million each. They can take off and land from short runways or vertically like a helicopter.

The F-35 is entering the fray more than four years late, and costs have spiraled to twice their estimate

(b) a gun “won’t be ready until 2017 * * * A more advanced pilot helmet with improved night vision also isn’t ready .

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.

(b)
(i) Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_Yuma
(located 2 miles (3 km) from the city of Yuma, Arizona)
(ii) History
www.visityuma.com/history.html
("The [Spanish] explorers called the Indians the Yumas, from the Spanish word for smoke (humo), because smoke from their cooking fires filled the valley as the Spaniards surveyed the Crossing from 'Indian Hill' ")

(c) Aaron Mehta, Marines Declare F-35B Operational. Defense News, July 31, 2015
(“While this is one IOC target down, two more remain. The F-35A conventional take-off and landing model will go operational for the Air Force in the fall of 2016. The carrier variant F-35C, which will be used both by the Navy and Marines, is scheduled to go operational in 2018, with a more up-to-date software package”)