ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded L3Harris Technologies a five-year, $88 million ceiling, single-award IDIQ contract — with an initial delivery order of $21 million — for a small, lightweight satellite terminal that delivers extremely reliable high-bandwidth voice, video…
Navy Orders Six CH-53K Helicopters for Marine Corps
ARLINGTON, Va. — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin company, has received an order from the U.S. Navy for six CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps. The Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $550.4 million contract…
Japan-Based Marine Squadron Re-Designated in Prep for F-35B Transition
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps has redesignated a squadron forward -deployed in Japan in preparation for its transition to the F-35B Lightning II strike fighter. The transition will result in the second F-35B squadron forward-deployed to Marine Aircraft Group…
Marine Corps Harrier Squadron Deactivates; to Fly Another Day in F-35Cs
ARLINGTON, VA. — An Oct. 15 ceremony marked the deactivation of Marine Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311), an AV-8B Harrier II squadron at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, as the squadron shifted some assets to merge with sister squadron…
Marine Corps Retires its Last AH-1W Super Cobra Helicopters
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Marine Corps has officially retired the Bell AH-1W “Super Cobra” from their ranks after 34 years of dependable service, Bell Textron, the helicopter’s builder, said in an Oct. 19 release. The last detachment of AH-1Ws to…
Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Tests Positive for COVID
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. Gary Thomas, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, according to the Marine Corps. Thomas, who tested positive Oct. 7, had been self-quarantining since Oct. 6, when he…
AeroVironment Unveils Improved Version of Switchblade One-Way Attack Drone
ARLINGTON, Va. — Unmanned aircraft maker AeroVironment has developed a bigger, badder version of Switchblade, its man-portable, tube-launched, loitering small aerial missile system. The Switchblade 600 has greater capabilities for engaging larger, hardened targets with multi-purpose anti-armor ammunition at longer distances…
Marine Corps F-35B, KC-130J Collide in Mid-Air
ARLINGTON, Va. — A Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II strike fighter collided with a Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules tanker/transport aircraft over Southern California on Sept. 29, resulting in the loss of the F-35B and a crash landing of the…
Future War in the Pacific? Think Guadalcanal, Marine Corps Planners Say
ARLINGTON, Va. — The challenge a peer competitor like China poses in a future conflict across the Indo-Pacific region bears striking similarities to the war between the United States and Japan in the same battlespace more than 75 years ago, say…
Berger: Marine Corps Needs More Diversity — In Amphibious Ships
ARLINGTON, Va. — The commandant of the Marine Corps said the Corps needs the Navy to broaden its family of amphibious warfare ships to create a more distributed, survivable force to operate in a future high-intensity conflict with a peer…


