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1 Aug 16

Prom : C~in9 Officer, Marine Figbter Attack squadron 121

TO I Commandant ot tbe Marine Corpa

via: (1) commanding Officer, Marine Aircraft. Group 13

(2) Commanding Gener&l, 3d Marino Aircraft Wing
(3) Deputy COnaandant for Aviation

Subj: XXBCUTlVE SUMMARY OF VMPA-121 SUPPORT OF RID FLAG 16-3

1. Exercise Conpoaiticn: VMFA-121 supported R&d Flag 16- 3. The excreta"

began with t.he Joint warfiqhter Prep Course IJWPC) I a three d.il.y academic
... don desigDed to prepare pilot!! for their Hi_don Co-.lander designation.
Thirteen of tba squadron's pilots attended the courae. Exercise execution
began en the u LII of JUly. 'l'here were two fly window vulncnbility periods
(-vu1-) each day with a real world scenario that pragre ed throughout the
week. Tha overall sortie construct. repeated each conaGCUtiva week with the
threat complexity iDcreaaing each consecutive week of the exercise. The
overall flow for each week was a9 follows:

Monday: Defeasive Counter Air (DCA)

AM-2 9hip / PM 2-sbip
TUesday: Offensive Counter Air (OCA)
AM-2 ship / PM 4-.hip
Wednesday: Strategic ~tt.ck (SA)
AM-2 ship / PM ( - ship
Thursday: DynaftiC Targating (DT)
AM-2 ship / PM 2-ship
Friday I Combat Search and Resculil (C:SAR)
AM-2 ship I PM 2-ahip
.AM only vul on the l.st Friday of tbe exercise

The exercise scenario was composed of tactical problema that required

integrated use of ~ultlple assets acrOGG a spectrum of domains including apace
and cyber. '-35 or fifth generation a ets and sorties were not specifically
required as criteria for mission success. The majority of p~icipanta had no
prior experlence working with F-3Sa. Participants included DSAF F-22s. E-3
AWACS, F-l6 Block 309 , 40s , RC-llS, B-S2a, 8-8 JS~S, MQ-g., RQ-Cs, U-26, US
Navy &A-leG and DSMC MAceS-l unit. aDd craw.. Professional adversaries
included F-16s from the 64~ ~ and A-4 hybrids f~ DRAKEN. A secrat F-35
capability brief was given to all participants aD part ot tba exercise inbrief
aDd a selac~ portion at the particiPAting aircr*w was briefed co che program .
The squadron inatructor pilots were injected into each planning s.s.lon in
order to ensure effective utilization or F-35 capabilitie8.

Operations: Baaad upon historic readineso rates of 50-GOt. aDd with 6

aircraft in Nellis, the najority of aortiea were planned as a two ship. Four
ship surge events CD TUesdAy and Wednesday nights were chosen baaed on OCA aDd
SA mission eets. Planned V6 executed Borties and hours are aa follows :

Sorties, planned I Bxecuted t 70 / 67

Hour., Planned I Executed: 92 / 94 . 1
Readines. Execution Rata: 98 . 5t
1 sortie cancelled for tllaintenance (ex.cu~.c1 tasting as a three ship)
Subj: EXBCtJ'TXVE smI'IARY OP VMPA-121 SUPPORT OF RED FLAG 16-3

2 .a~eie. cancelled for weaebar lavent cancelled fo~ Thunder.to~ /

:Icing in the NTTR)
Ordnance EXpended: 6xGBU-32 Inert / 6xGBU-12 Inert and 24 flare.

Squadron pilots held numeroua flight leadership aignneat. througbout the

exerclae. VM7A-121 pilote were de.ignated Mi ion Coamandera during the tbird
week of high threat eventa, a. well the VIP day with the secretary of the
CSAP and Chief of St~ff of the USAP in attendance. OVerall leadership
assignments beld are a. follows:

~i ioD Co.mander: 3
Package C~r: 7
Tactical Mantor: ~

A VMFA-121 pilot. on bis Mi&8ion Commander Deaignation aortie. received

recognition tor tbe moat outstanding execution as a Mission oan.ander fo~ the
exercille. He was personally recognized by the asAP Chief of Staff. General
Goldfeio during the ~S8ion debrief.

2. MaintenaDce Summary I Aircraft readine exceeded the hi.torieal averages.

six aircraft were deployed to Nellie AFB. The aquadron's seventh aircraft
reaained in Y~a with a persiatent IPP problem that was discovered after
conpletian of ~ Iwakuai ~tic.tioDA. Th. Average readiness rate. lor the
three week of the exerei" are Ibted. below. Notably, these nUllber. only
~eflect the six aircraft deployed to Nellia APB.

Ready Ba&ic Aircraft IRBAI: 71.

FUll Mi ion Capable (FMC) I 23.
Partial Mission Capable (PHC1: 53'

3. Observations: The squadron was well prepared to .uppo~t this exercise.

All pilot. war. complete with the 3000 level Training and Re.dines.
requirement.. Prior to the exercise, each pilot flew several aiaulator event.
thAt lIIirrored the Red Flag scenario. to the IIWlX extent possible.
Addition.lly, the reqUired .on~y amargency procedure simulator waD conduete4
in the Nelli. Biaulator datsbase.

The F-3S performed very well acro.s the apectrum of mission sets including
escort, Btrike, and suppres.ion of ene.y air defenees (SRAD). The limited
number of fifth generation aircraft lor the eaeort roll required the fighter
integration (lI) of fourth generation tp-~51 and fifth generation IP-22/P-J5)
ts. In the escort role, the F-35 waD both lethal and survivable in
contested enviroDNent against highly trained aggressor.. The aircraft
sensors were extremely ~fective at providing pilots a high degree of
sityational ewarene88 to the air picture.

The 7-35 i8 extr~ely capable acros. aeveral .i.sion sets . Aa the axsrcise
progresaed. this beca. . very evident to the other participants and we ~ere
ked to fill Beveral roles in addition to the ATe fragged aaalgnmenta. The
uci11ty of the P-35 led to eeam1esa tranaitioDa from an escort, .tri~e or SEAn
rolss throughout the vul.

one particular area where the P-lS performed extre_ely well was the ability to
use the aircraft's bigh fidelity sensors to ahare data over Link-16 with
fourth generation et. with less capable sanaors/radars. This typs of 000-
kinetic .uppor~ was a force multiplier and enabled fourth generation cort
a ta to 'be ~ore lethal and survivable. In many cases, the P-35 had fuel
2
Bubj: EXE:CO'TIVE StlMMARY OP VHFA-l.21 SUPPORT OF RED FLAG 16-3

remil,ining after the air to air load-out was expended and ...,... ble to rem.Lin on
station to support other aaseta Don-kinetically . It is important to note
that for this exercise, there .....er. no airborne tanker a.s.t.e that were
configured to service N"VY/Marine COrps aircraft with the prObe and ~
refueling syatern. Most of t.he USAF aasets ....d. use of airborne refueling to
enh.iI.nC9. tilnll! on sta.tion .

In .. dedicated strike role, the F-35 had the ability to locate targets at long
ranges and conduct simulated strikes ~ithin tbe limitations of our current.
weapons (GBU-12!GBU-33) envelopes. Lack of stand-off waapon in this
current software configuration continue a to be one of our biggest limiting
factors.
The low observable charace.ristiCB of the aircraft were very effective and
facilitated a much broader access and freedom of maneuver in comparison to
1@g8cy platforms, The aircraft were in the aoat. effective configuration for
signature ~anagement. Training in this configuration is critical. aa it
allowa pilots learn to effectively e.ploy the aircraft ..s well as tru.t the
low observable signature.

Overall. the F-35 ~a. tar more survivable then the participating legacy
aircraft. Debrief analysis of each F-35 los. was either the result of a
pilot'S individual employaent error or the result of a acenario/airspace
linitaeion. Due to the large number of aaseta involved, pilots were, liaited
to a 1000 foot altitude block, Block adherence acd no-fly areBS within the
range complex prohibited pilote fro~ positioning themsalves in the moat lethal
or survivable position. Even with those restrictions, it was extremely
difficult for the opposing red force to acquire and succe.sfully en~age F-35a.
As the squadron conmander, 7 alll e~tremely proud at the buable profe33ionalism
we brought to this exercise, OUr 1Ill1nt~ce depart1llent worked bard and
delivered coJlbat capable aircraft for every vul. OUr pilots seatUea81y
integrated with other aircrew and cybar/apace operatoro. We capitalized on
our opportunities to lead the events as Mi ion Combanders, Package
Conmandera. and Tactical Mentors . Moat notably. our pilots were the Mission
commander s for the evant ~ith the MOat capable eneMY threat laydown as well
all the VIP event with the Secretary of the Air Porca and OSAF Chief of St.aff
present. Thia was tbe firat Red Flag exercia. with F-JS participation and the
USMC lead frOID the front.

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