The F-35B, the Marine Corps variant of the Lightning II, has undergone its first power module and engine swap at sea, the Navy said Nov. 9.
The milestone occurred in the hangar bay of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) in the Pacific Ocean, the Navy said.
During the test, Marines followed an engine removal and replacement process developed by Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 1, based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona. The Marines entered each step of the swap into the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), the F-35 maintenance database developed by the plane’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin [LMT].
“Testing the ability to swap entire engines or engine components at sea is vital, as this is the last opportunity for the Marine Corps to perform these shipboard maintenance actions in a sterile test environment before they deploy with the F-35B,” said Lt. Col. Richard Rusnok, officer in charge of the VMX-1 F-35B detachment. During the test, “the team not only proved the engine maintenance construct, but also gained critical hands-on experience dealing with the confined space and deck motion aboard ship — something that cannot be replicated ashore.”
The test results are expected to help F-35B maintainers adjust their procedures to make them more efficient. The swap occurred during the plane’s third and final developmental test phase, which is also evaluating short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) operations in a high-sea state, shipboard landings, and night operations.
The Marine Corps declared its first F-35 squadron combat-ready in July 2015, becoming the first service to do so.