Oorah: How the F-35B Is Serving the U.S. Marine Corps Quite Well The F-35B will help the Marines not only gain air dominance, but also be able to conduct amphibious operations. Key point: Having a high-tech stealth fighter would certainly make seizing an enemy island easier. Here is how the F-35B will help the Marines fight any future war. A few months back, pilots of the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) conducted the mass launch of the Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort (MCAS), South Carolina. In total 21 of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variants of the Joint Strike Fighters were able to take to the sky, and the training allowed the unit to take part in a full days' worth of flight exercises.