Its past time for a bit of common sense when it comes to Marine Corps procurement of ground vehicles.Instead of fielding new vehicles with new technology, service leaders installed more armor on the vehicles they already have and buy off-the-shelf stopgaps to create MRAPs, mine-resistant ambush-protected trucks. But even the lightest, most mobile MRAP variant, the M-ATV (MRAP all-terrain vehicle), weighs in at more than 12 tons, more than twice an uparmored Humvee. Other, heavier MRAPs can hardly operate off-road: problematic but tolerable in highly urbanized Iraq, painfully limiting in rugged Afghanistan, and potentially crippling for future rapid-intervention missions around the world.Now the Army and Marine Corps want a truck that’s much more maneuverable cross-country than an MRAP, yet much less vulnerable than the old Humvee. But their proposed solution, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, faced cancellation threats in Congress and already has been rebooted to control its rising costs. The Army likewise revamped its Ground Combat Vehicle after initial proposals came in at 50 to 70 tons, startlingly heavy even for what is essentially a tank.
1. The JLTV just doesn't make sense for the Marine Corps. Have the balls to cancel Marine Corps purchases and pick an upgrade for the HUMVEE. If we land in extended combat in IED infested areas then we pull MRAPs out of storage. The JLTV as currently constructed will cause our ships to weight out before they cube out.
2. The slow walk that is the Marine Personnel Carrier Program is a mystery. You pick the best one (and on this I would aim for best land performance, not swimming ability...we'll never launch these from ship and everyone knows it). We've been looking at this since 2010. They've been tested at Marine Bases around the country. Man up and make a selection.
3. What gives with the AAV upgrade? Again. Pick out what's desired and just get it done.
4. ACV. Again, this is nothing but a big bag of WTF! Simply take the transformer pieces off the EFV, don't make it plane on water and get some decent jet drives on it and lets get it in the fleet.
These are simple issues that the Marine Corps has the answers to. The Marine Corps does have a weight problem and its with too many functionaries and procurement officials. This should have been done a year ago.
No urgency.
No plan.
Too much talk.
You don't win wars that way and you don't win procurement battles either.
NOTE:
Yeah I know this is just a thinly disguised hit piece on the F-35 by the guy whose name must not be spoken but he did have some juicy tidbits mixed in. I've got to get my hands on the wargame where the Army tried to get amphibious....how would they manage that with Strykers, Bradleys and Abrams?
Screw the military's weight problem, thinking like that got a lot of people hurt in Iraq. Let the fat boy eat cake homie. If you get a transport issue solve it with C-17s and landing ship tanks, they're cheap and you can buy more armor that way. I agree with USMC needs a new APC that is better armored. I also think something that stresses IED protection over maneuverability is incorrect, we dont buy APCs to need recovery vehicles. APCs rely on that speed of maneuver to survive in higher threat environments. They are going to play with the issue longer than people want, and folks are gonna be like I wanted that toy but eventually the USMC will get a better APC.
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