via Breaking Defense...
“If we get in another fight – and some day we will get in another fight on the ground – I think it would be a different fight: one that’s shorter, faster-paced, and much harder,” Winnefeld said in his opening remarks. “The battlefield will be a more hostile environment than it’s ever been. The fog of war, despite all of our technology, will not clear for us, and the adversary will use the tools we have employed so successfully recently, such as quality ISR and networks and precision guided weapons, against us. We will need ground forces that can handle this.”Read the entire article but be advised.
“Speed of deployment, whether by being there already or through prepositioning or through lift, will become more important than it’s ever become,” Winnefeld went on. Getting to the war zone quickly, by the way, has been an agonizing issue for the Army since the failure of Task Force Hawk during the Kosovo campaign of 1999. Indeed, even further back, many in the Army remember the desperately vulnerable position of the much-vaunted but lightly-armed 82nd Airborne after it flew to Saudi Arabia in 1990, only to have to wait months for heavy backup to come by sea: For a stinging critique, read theDefense Science Board’s 2006 Summer Study: Search for the words “speed bump.”
This is exactly what I've been saying for months...he's just saying it better.
Its weird. The Commandant of the Marine Corps is building a light weight, airmobile force and here we have a Navy Admiral telling us that we're going to be in the fight of our lives against a sophisticated enemy, with precision weapons and ISR as good as our own.
An air assault Marine Corps will not survive this type of future battlefield. F-35's will not provide the type of support needed by Marines in this type of fight.
We're building the wrong type of Marine Corps for the future. Sea base? 200 nm offshore isn't protection from shore based anti-ship missiles anymore. Against a modern foe is the M777 the right artillery system or do we need something truck mounted like the French have? We definitely need a new AAV (or better... the BAE MPC). And is the MEU going to be capable of performing even its traditional missions as currently equipped?
I don't know. What I do know is that Marines are asking these questions. I just wish HQMC would too.
UPDATE: I just realized that the Admiral just gave us a glimpse at more than a few things...
* SOCOM is the favored child right now but its time in the sun seems to be ending. His talk about COIN going out of favor is a direct blow at them. A hard core body shot that is telling. My only question is how low will they go.
* Speaking of reduced manning. Its obvious that they want to take the military waaaay down in strength. We're talking about historic lows for the Army and Marine Corps. Its obvious that they plan is to trade manpower for weapons. Specifically the F-35...that is until everyone wakes up and kill the beast.
* He's basically telling the Army to get back to having Light Fighters. A Stryker Brigade isn't rapid deployable and neither is the 101st. Sounds like he wants the Army to get back to the days when a 50 cal was considered heavy.
I also forgot to include the link. Click here.
