LCAC vs. the Ground Combat Vehicle.

Riedel Ship to Shore Connector

The good people at the Marine Corps Sea Basing Website are stressing the importance of the Sea Base being able to support not only Marine Corps Units but also US Army Combat Brigades and Allied Forces.

But Houston, we have a problem.

The Ground Combat Vehicle or for that matter the next generation Stryker/Bradley A3 will strain our current and interim Ship to Shore Connector...the LCAC.

The LCAC's are in the middle of a service life extension and are due to serve for another 10-20 years until the Navy gets around to replacing them.

The problem is this.  The LCAC is capable of carrying 74 tons at 35 knots over a distance of 25 nm or greater (pg 7 of the brochure).

That means that carrying the future Ground Combat Vehicle will be the equivalent of moving a Main Battle Tank for every sortie.  And with the future growth in weight of the Stryker and Bradley (once the Army gets around to recapitalizing it!) will place the Bradley close to the 35-40 ton range and the Stryker close to the 30 ton threshold.  Similar in weight to the EFV----but those systems can't swim!.

The US Army Heavy Brigade Combat Teams and to a certain extent the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (the middle weight force) are moving away from use in the Assault Echelon.  Before I hear howls of protest understand that the HBCT or the SBCT were not to be part of the first wave but were to be launched in a non-permissive environment.

With current vehicle growth they will be too heavy to move in any environment except one thats highly permissive---this also means that it will have to be an administrative movement---not combat.

Weight is going to be an issue and might keep the Army on the sidelines in the future.  Its obvious that the Army isn't taking into account strategic mobility or employment in their future vehicle force structure.  Infantry will once again rule ----whether Airborne, Air Assault, or Ranger---every other part of the Army force will be too heavy to get into the fight. 


*Note*
The US Army has virtually discarded what they called "Light" Infantry -read that to mean  Non-Airborne or Air Assault Infantry formations.

They're either Heavy or Stryker.  That means that the US Marine Corps will have to bear the burden of the fight if conflict erupts in Jungles....heavily urbanized areas or even in the arctic.  The 82nd or the 101st can deploy and fight as Light Infantry but they are tasked organized for short duration missions (especially the 82nd).  They aren't formed or equipped to last more than a couple of days in an active combat zone without support.

HQ Marine Corps on NOC 2010.

I absolutely love the way the guys at Headquarters Marine Corps can take an overly wordy document and break it down for wide distribution.  Consider it Cliff Notes....

Here's the short version of the Naval Operations Concept 2010.

In the Black (Noc 10)

F-15E's and the Space Shuttle.

This is why the Military Social Networking attempt is failing so badly.  Either you subscribe to every blasted command or you miss out!

Anyway, the boys at Discovery.com found this gem of a pic.  Click on it to see it in its enlarged glory.

Australian Airborne Ops.

No 049 Basic Parachute Course strapped into a RAAF C-17 Globemaster waiting for take off to participate in their first descent. 

Private Eric Egginton waiting for the command to "GO" from the jump master to be the first student to jump from a RAAF C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.

Commanding Officer of Parachute Training School HMAS ALBATROSS, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Bonativa is first to jump out of a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft during a parachute training exercise on the HMAS ALBATROSS airfield

Personnel from Parachute Training School, HMAS ALBATROSS, comprising of both staff and trainees, conduct static line parachute training with a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, as operated by 36 Squadron, RAAF BASE AMBERLEY.

1st Battalion, 7th Marines at Dawn Blitz.

ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD-Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters circle the USS Bonhomme Richard June 3 before exercise Dawn Blitz. The exercise demonstrated the nation’s ability to go ashore and seize and hold enemy ground. , Lance Cpl. M. C. Nerl, 6/3/2010 4:48 AM

ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD-An amphibious assault vehicle with Company D, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, charges forward during Dawn Blitz June 4. Dawn Blitz incorporated nearly all elements of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, leading the way. , Lance Cpl. M. C. Nerl, 6/4/2010 6:40 AM

ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD-Marines with Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, crowd the hallways of the USS Bonhomme Richard after staging practice, June 3 during exercise Dawn Blitz. The exercise was meant as a display of the nation’s amphibious assault capabilities and to help prepare the Marines for their deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit next month., Lance Cpl. M. C. Nerl, 6/2/2010 4:55 PM

Lance Cpl. M. C. Nerl-Sergeant Derrick C. Johnson, a squad leader with Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, heads across a field as a CH-53 Sea Stallion lifts off behind him. Battalion Landing Team 1/7 was the spearhead for exercise Dawn Blitz., ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD, 6/4/2010 5:15 AM

Textron gobbles up Millenworks.

via DefPro.

Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today announced that it has acquired MillenWorks, an internationally recognized innovator in advanced mobility solutions for demanding on-road and off-road applications. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The Tustin, CA-based company with expected 2010 revenues of about $28 million will add strategic capabilities to Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, in New Orleans, LA.

Wow.  Talk about a preemptive strike!  I thought for sure BAE would buy these guys out, instead Textron beat them to the punch.  Millenworks is famous for its suspension work and its vehicles are beyond innovative...they're fabulous.  Their Light Utility Vehicle was, in my opinion, more in keeping with what the JLTV was originally designed to be.  A next generation, light weight, highly protected, highly mobile and highly adaptable platform.

I'm not sure the current participants can be called lightweight.

Textron stole one from the big boys with this acquisition.

Large Ship Vulnerability.

I've heard the arguments regarding the vulnerability of large ships in the littoral zone.  

I've heard pundits wax on about swarm attacks by small boats.  

I've read how antiquated it is to build US warships to warship standards...and why it would be better to copy the example of our European allies and to build them to mercantile standards.

Bullshit.

Do you remember this from a few years ago?  Large ships don't go quietly into the night. After absorbing all that damage and without the benefit of Damage Control Parties, this ship still had to be destroyed by controlled INTERNAL explosives.

This from the Navy Site. DE

The photos below were taken on July 13, 2006, and show the BELLEAU WOOD being sunk by EOD set off bombs. On July 12, 2006, the ship had already taken Harpoon hits and gunfire from the USS MOBILE BAY (CG 53) but refused to sink. Thanks to Mario Silva-Hernandez for contributing the potos.

Note* The results of US Navy test sinkings of aircraft carriers are still classified. If an LHA is this robust then imagine how much damage a modern aircraft carrier could absorb. Maybe the Chinese are signaling the truth by the desperate attempt to target our capital ships with ballistic missiles. Perhaps they've run the simulations and realize how difficult it would be and how much damage THEY would have to absorb in order to destroy a large US combatant conventionally!

HMAS Kimbala. Preparing for the Canberra Class LHD & Rimpac 2010.

via Australian Navy Website. 

CMDR Byles told Navy News that RIMPAC would mark an important milestone for Kanimbla which will be one of only three amphibious platforms in this large scale joint exercise.
“Kanimbla for the first time is being used to launch and recover ten (a platoon) of US Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicles involved in a battalion size amphibious assault,” he said.
He said the lessons learnt by Kanimbla will help the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to develop its amphibious warfare doctrine which will contribute to the integration of the Canberra-class LHDs that will give the ADF a truly expeditionary capability.

Wow.  Amphibs.  Again!

The Australians are highlighting not their Subs, Frigates or Aircraft at Rimpac but rather an elderly Amphib that was discarded by the US Navy much too soon.  Surprisingly, the LST's having been some of the hottest sellers on the aftermarket (although a few LHA's that were sunk to form reefs would have been welcomed by allied navies too).

Change we really can believe in!

Hey all.  I made some changes to the blog.  Let me know if you like or if I should revert!

Thanks!


NOTE:

Modification 1.
I got some initial feedback.  The white on pure black went over like Obama's health care policies, but unlike the President I do respond to the electorate's wishes...or in this case to my readers desires.  More mods are possible...let me know!

The very definition of a bad day.

Major Hat Tip to War News Updates.

Follow the link to read the story at his site, but if you think you had a bad day, think about what this guy is going through (not that he doesn't deserve it).  This poor bastard is going to be praying for death soon.