This “preparing to fight the last war” is not just inefficient, it is prohibitively expensive. “Each CH-53K will now cost $138.5 million, up from $131.2 million one year ago,” Popular Mechanics writes. That is roughly $30 billion for 200 helicopters.Here.
The trend line on cost is supposed to come down as weapons systems come into place; the tenth platform should cost less than the first, and the twentieth less than the tenth, and so on. With the King Stallion, that trend line is going in the wrong direction. From 2016 to 2017, the total cost of the system increased by 6.9 percent. That is a huge chunk of money in one year.
We simply cannot afford to sit around and hope that things get better. Lawmakers should say enough is enough and call for an end to spending on this expensive program.
Doing so would not harm the military. After all, experts in the Pentagon are already exploring options to use existing helicopters instead of going exclusively with the new model. The Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation says it will provide “an assessment of alternatives for other platforms that might meet the mission.”
This is sensible because the Marines already know there are “multiple design deficiencies discovered during early testing,” according to a Pentagon report on the King Stallion. “These include: airspeed indication anomalies, low reliability of main rotor gearbox, hot gas impingement on aircraft structures, tail boom and tail rotor structural problems, overheating of main rotor dampers, fuel system anomalies, high temperatures in the #2 engine bay, and hot gas ingestion by the #2 engine, which could reduce available power.”
Lawmakers need to make sure the military has the tools to fight the next war. As the budget deficit soars because of Covid-19 that will require thriftiness. The King Stallion is a throwback we can simply no longer afford.
US military armoured vehicles rolls after leaving the roadway in the northern #Hasakah countryside #Syria #USA #Syrianarmy🇸🇾https://t.co/tQ6n8Byjmr pic.twitter.com/bgadTn6wVc— Steele M (@SteeleSyAA) July 22, 2020
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| via Instagram TANK TUESDAY “I joined the military because my parents were both immigrants. The way I could repay them for providing me freedom was to serve in the military. I will be going to the Army to continue with tanks. I’m going to miss the group of people I’ve met.” Sgt Adrian Olivias is a tank crewman who has been serving with 1st Tank Battalion. As the Marine Corps prepares to deactivate tank battalions, join us as we feature some faces of Marines that have been members of the tank community. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Gunnery Sgt. Melissa Marnell) |
jarhead_spartan Can't destroy them from without...must destroy them from within. It's sad watching the decline of the Corps from toxic leadership w bad ideas. Just a mirror of the country under our congressional leadership. Semper Fi?Who thought this was a good idea? Don't get me wrong. The whole thing is batshit stupid from my seat but to highlight the move? To put this front and center?
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