When the US Navy's (USN's) newest amphibious assault ship America (LHA 6) joins the fleet in 2014, it will carry on its flight deck a new era in naval aviation. This era will be based around the next generation of front-line air assets, comprising the F-35B Lightning Ⅱ short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Replacing the USN's Tarawa-class landing helicopter assault (LHA) ships, the America class will sit at the centre of the USN's amphibious ready groups (ARGs), enabling the deployment of Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) around the globe. The new LHA "will be an extremely capable platform, with potential capabilities to execute not only amphibious warship roles and missions as defined, but also, when needed, to augment the fleet," said US Marine Corps (USMC) Major General Timothy Hanifen, the officer commanding the USN's expeditionary warfare division (N95).
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