Marine Corps Sends F-35C Out To Sea | Norwegian Bodø Air Base Closes | Korean F-35 Made Emergency Landing

Americas

Bell-Boeing won a $7.9 million contract modification, which provides for additional post-production repairs and related system engineering and program management support for the MV-22B Common Configuration Readiness and Modernization retrofit program. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The Marine Corps variant, MV-22B, provides reliable and safe transportation of personnel, supplies, and equipment. Work will take place in Pennsylvania and Texas. Estimated completion will be in March 2023.

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is underway for a patrol of the Indo-Pacific and this deployment notes a number of firsts. The Marine Corps is sending its F-35C out to sea for its first operational deployment by bringing VMFA-314 aboard the carrier. VRM-30 will also deploy for the first time along with its CMV-22B. The squadron was established at NAS North Island in 2018.

Middle East & Africa

According to Elbit Systems, the UAE Air Force’s Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft will soon be fitted with Direct Infrared Countermeasures and airborne Electronic Warfare systems supplied by Elbit Systems Emirates Limited in a $53 million contract. The contract runs for five years.

Europe

Norwegian F-16s will fly their last mission out of Bodø Air Base on January 6 and the base will end all fighter operations after that. Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties in the Artic area will be taken over by fighters stationed at Evenes Air Station. Two F-16s will launch from Bodø on Jan. 6 but one will land back at the base to be retired as an exhibit in the local museum.

Asia-Pacific

South Korea started constructing the second KSS-III Batch-II submarine. The boat, built by local shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), will be completed by 2026 and delivered to the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) in 2028 after undergoing sea trials.

According to local news, an F-35A fighter operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force made an emergency landing during a training session Tuesday due to avionic system issues. The radar-evading jet made the belly landing on a runway at an air base in Seosan, 151km south of Seoul, at 12:51 pm after the issues caused the landing gear to momentarily malfunction, officials were quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

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