Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) will be deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan in early 2017 as the U.S. Navy bolsters its presence in Asia by transferring more of its combat-ready units to Japan.

VMFA 121, also known as the "Green Knights," flies the Marine Corps version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the F-35B. This variant is short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) the jet that will replace current inventories of both the F/A-18 Hornet and the AV-8B Harrier II in the fighter and attack roles.

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VMFA-121 will be the first F-35 squadron permanently based in Japan. Lt. Col. J.T. Bardo, commanding officer of VMFA-121, said Marines with the squadron are both excited and honored to be part of this move.

The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 13 (MAG-13) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).

On Nov. 20, 2015, VMFA-121 accepted delivery of the first three F-35B jets becoming the first operational F-35B squadron in the Marine Corps Operating Forces and the first operational F-35 squadron in any service.

The squadron currently has 10 of its 16 F-35Bs already based in Iwakuni. The remaining six stealth jets will be delivered in June 2017 by the USS Wasp (LHD-1), a Landing Helicopter Dock amphibious assault ship of the U.S. Navy.

The Marines are excited to have the F-35B.

"I can't wait to get the airplane out to the Pacific," said Lt. General Jon Davis, Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps.

"It's tailor-made for that part of the world with its fifth generation capability and its expeditionary capabilities to land on a small ship or strip, and flow back and forth between those."

Gen. Davis said the Marines' F-35s are ready for combat now if needed. He revealed the F-35s are doing a lot better in combat exercises than expected, achieving kill ratios of 24 to zero in mock aerial combats against other jets, and surviving every sort of simulated enemy attack.

"It is like watching a velociraptor going through. Everything in its path is killed," he said.

The deployment of VMFA-121 and Wasp to Japan is part of Washington's rebalancing strategy to increase the navy's presence in the Pacific. Once in Japan, Wasp will be part of the United States Seventh Fleet Forward Deployed Naval Forces.

TagsVMFA-121, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, U.S. Marine Corps, Green Knights, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Lt. Col. J.T. Bardo