I'm sure it was accidental.
I'm positive that he did not mean it they way it comes across...but still....
If we can forward deploy a KC-130J detachment for the entirety of a MEU's deployment then we can do the same with a detachment of Super Hornets. STOVL jets are not necessary to support an MEU.
While promoting the KC-130J he just shit canned an entire operating philosophy. A philosophy that I once thought was beyond dispute.
Now?
I'm not so sure. Did Marine Air let the cat out of the bag?
I'm positive that he did not mean it they way it comes across...but still....
“They are a hard requirement when a MEU — any MEU — is operating for an extended period of time in a split or disaggregated configuration,” wrote Col. Scott Campbell, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s former executive officer, in a Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned report published earlier this year. MCCLL recommended that a dedicated KC-130J detachment be forward-deployed to support MEUs for the entire duration of their float “to enhance reach and responsiveness.”Yeah.
If we can forward deploy a KC-130J detachment for the entirety of a MEU's deployment then we can do the same with a detachment of Super Hornets. STOVL jets are not necessary to support an MEU.
While promoting the KC-130J he just shit canned an entire operating philosophy. A philosophy that I once thought was beyond dispute.
Now?
I'm not so sure. Did Marine Air let the cat out of the bag?
Love the USMC "Harvest Hawk" KC-130Js, Transport / tanker...of course. But also ISR and light strike. Great for bug-hunts in permissive air environs like Afghanistan where you need the resource to respond and hang around for a while.
ReplyDeletei do too. i just think they need to gear it up a bit instead of sending it out lightly loaded.
DeleteA fighter jet that can use the same short runway as a C-130 would be appropriate. Also easy to fix in the field, cheap and affordable.
DeleteThat would be the Gripen.
Last summer the F-35 program office had a problem which impacted the Marine Corps particularly since the Corps is Queeny-the-lead-dog on the F-35 employment, setting the pace with the earliest IOC and the most enthusiasm straight out of the Commandant's office.
ReplyDeleteBut they had a problem. Lifetime operations and sustainment costs were stratospheric at $1.1 trillion.
What to do?
The MC came through and reduced their need for money. Flying the F-35B in STOVL mode is expensive, in fuel and maintenance. In an August 2013 interview with Reuters, Lieutenant General Robert Schmidle, deputy Marine Corps commandant for aviation, stated the U.S. Marines only intended to fly the F-35B in STOVL mode 10% of its flying time... 10% only... down from the 80% rate associated with requirements definition and the rate factored into initial operational/support cost estimates. Magic! Simply change the intended use and requirements statement!
The cost per flying hour of the F-35B model, which can land like a helicopter, is likely be 16.6 percent lower than the earlier Pentagon projections, Lieutenant General Robert Schmidle, deputy Marine Corps commandant for aviation, told Reuters.
A second senior defense official said the current estimate by the Pentagon's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office put the cost per flying hour of the F-35B model at over $41,000, but the actual cost would likely be closer to $37,000.
That's it! An eighty-seven percent reduction in STOVL time to ten percent (plus a few other adjustments) would reduce F-35 O&S LCC $875 million -- problem solved.
So, as Solomon wisely suggests, given the KC-130J remarks, is the measly ten percent STOVL requirement more like zero percent, thus questioning the whole F-35B requirement?
"The Marine Corps has very aggressively stepped out in trying to find ways to decrease the operating and support costs, specifically with regard to the cost per flight hour," Schmidle said. "I wanted to challenge every assumption."
Hey, Bob, if you really want to challenge every assumption, work on that F-35B requirements assumption some more.
Did Marine Air let the cat out of the bag?
ReplyDeleteHell yes, and you caught it.
This is better than a hottie. (Trust me on this.)
better than a hottie? yeah on a certain level, but then again, not on all levels! seriously though i need to lay my hands on that lessons learned report. i imagine that they're trying to justify the failed response to the situation in the Philippines and cement this air based SPMAGTF, but i want to see it with my own two.
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ReplyDelete