Warzone/The Drive: Watch A Marine Corps F-35B Fire Its Gun Pod While Flying Off The Coast Of Somalia
Marine F-35Bs are on call to provide close air support in support of the withdrawal of American troops out of Somalia.
The U.S. Navy has released a video of U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighters conducting flight operations from the deck of the Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, including a clip of one of the jets conducting live-fire training with its 25mm underbelly gun pod. Makin Island and the F-35Bs onboard, as well as other elements of its Amphibious Ready Group, or ARG, and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, are in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. These Navy and Marine forces, among other U.S. military elements in the region, are supporting the withdrawal of American troops from that East African country, which you can read about in more detail in this recent War Zone piece.
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WNU Editor: Only 220 rounds of ammunition .... enough for around four seconds to total firing time. If I was on the ground and I needed ground support I would prefer an A-10 with 1200 rounds of ammunition, packing other armaments', and be able to loiter over the battle field for a period of time.