Tuesday, July 16, 2013

What does the CSIS talk tell us about the future of the Navy and Marines?


So after reading and watching the discussion held at CSIS about the future of the Navy and Marines, I think I've identified a few priorities.

*  The push for "tailored" forces is going to continue...they just don't know in what form yet.  I heard enthusiasm for the JHSV.  Talking about putting 300 Marines onboard and zooming around at 35 knots sustained, with berthing, dining, medical and command/control facilities really seemed to thrill the two of them.
*  Concern about the shipbuilding infrastructure.  I think the LPD Flight II is almost getting a boost simply because of the fear of losing that trained workforce.  That's both good and bad.
*  The talk regarding the MLP still seemed forced.  I still get the impression that the ship is being looked at from the view of a dog chasing a car and catching it.  What now?  We'll see but confidence remains low that it will ever really be part of the amphibious fleet.  For some reason they keep defaulting to the Afloat Forward Staging Base concept as a prime reason to keep it.  Mind you they emphasize the cost of conversion but I'm betting there is some horse trading with SOCOM over those costs.
*  I heard what I wanted to hear regarding the Amphibious Combat Vehicle but confidence is not high.  In the same sentence he stated that the F-35 was also a must have.  That indicates to me that there will be no adjustment in the procurement plan.
*  There was no talk about the LCAC upgrade, or the LCU replacement.  I get the feeling that we'll have to make due with what we have for the foreseeable future.

There is probably a bit more but I'm going to go back and re-read the transcript to see what I might have missed.

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