Marine Personnel Carrier Advice.

A bit of unsolicited advice for the Marine Corps Personnel Carrier Program Office.

Pick the best all around vehicle despite the price and work from there.

If the second best vehicle is the cheapest then its a no go.  If one vehicle has dazzling electronics but can't hack it in rough terrain then its a no go.  If it can swim like there is no tommorrow but has little room for future growth and is under armored then its a no go.

Its value time.

The best all around vehicle is what the Marine Corps needs....ITS BACK TO BASICS.  For all the hammering that the AAV receives its served in one form or another for 40 years.  Why?  Because we got the basic vehicle right.

We concentrated on what was important and didn't get caught up in "whats fashionable at the time" mindset.

I would contend that the Bradley suffered from a single type war mindset.  It was designed for the Fulda Gap...Desert Storm 1 just happened to fit into the Army's concept of operations...and we had wide open territory to fight in.

Notice that the Bradley hasn't appeared in Afghanistan and the Stryker has suffered when operating in that environment.

The Marine Corps should not make that mistake.

Despite being lighter in weight than the Stryker, the LAV-25 has performed well for both the USMC and the Australian Army in that theater.  We need a vehicle that has the longevity and performance value that both the AAV and the LAV-25 have given us.

Additionally it might be wise to flow some of our MPC's over to the LAR Battalions so that we can simplify logistics.

Having looked at all the candidates...the Terrex, the Havoc, the Super AV and the Piranha III...I believe that the Havoc is the best all around vehicle in this competition.

Its already been with our AAV Battalions out at Pendleton and its reportedly a great performer.  Additionally it swims well, has outstanding cross country mobility and can carry a proper number of Marines.

Its time to get these vehicle issues off the table.  Get the MPC competition done poste haste.  Pick the Havoc and get these vehicles into the hands of our AAV and LAV Marines this year or next.

11th MEU Recon gearing up.

The unit is deployed aboard the amphibious assault ship as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, which is a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.  Photo by Sgt. Elyssa Quesada

24th MEU BLT Assault Rehersal? We don't need no stinking rehersal!

Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Battalion Landing Team, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit assault an objective during a rehearsal of the final exercise at Exercise Africa Lion 2012, April 16. AL-12 is a U.S. African Command-sponsored, Marine Forces Africa-led exercise involving various types of training including command post, live-fire and maneuvering, peace keeping operations, an intelligence capacity building seminar, aerial refueling/low-level flight training, as well as medical and dental assistance projects. The annual exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Main)

Mythical Fleet. LSD Replacement? HNLMS Rotterdam

Continuing with my mythical fleet we come to an LSD replacement.

My choice would be the HNLMS Rotterdam class.  Stats via Wikipedia...

General characteristics
Type:	Landing platform dock
Displacement:	12,750t (Rotterdam), 16,800t (Johan de Witt)
Length:	166m (Rotterdam), 176.35m (Johan de Witt)
Beam:	25.0 m
Draft:	5.8 m
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric system 4 x Stork Wärtsilä 12SW28 diesel generators at 14.6 MW 4 x Holec electric motor (two in tandem per shaft) at 12 MW 2 shafts bow thruster
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h)
Range:	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 12-knot (22 km/h)
Endurance:	6 weeks
Boats and landing craft carried:	6 x LCU or 4 x LCVP (HNLMS Johan de Witt can accommodate 2 LCACs)
Capacity:	170 armoured personnel carriers or 33 main battle tanks
Troops:	611 marines
Crew:	128
Sensors and processing systems:	DA08 air / surface search IRSCAN SATCOM, Link 11, JMCIS
Electronic warfare and decoys:	4 x Sippican Hycor SRBOC MK36 launcher 1 x AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy
Armament:	2 x Goalkeeper CIWS guns 4 x Oerlikon Contraves 20 mm machine guns
Aviation facilities:	Hangar for 6 x AgustaWestland Lynx or NH-90 helicopter and stern helicopter flight deck

By US Navy standards this ship is light, simple and mass production shouldn't be an issue.  In my scheme of things this ship could even be specialized to act as mothership in roles in which the LCS would be too small.

Imagine switching out its normal compliment of landing craft for small boats and instead of NH-90's you replace them with AH-1Z's or MH-60S for sea control and attack missions.

You'd have a formidable ship with a battalion of Marines or Special Ops ready to act against pirates.  Drugs become a problem (well they already are but if a President ever gets serious about killing the importation of the poison) then you could replace them with Riverines and Master at Arms types and have a Joint Task Force 6 at sea.

My whole point (no insult to our allies that operate these ships...its a selling point) is that these ships are relatively modular, have great load capacity/troop berthing and should be cheap enough to build in large enough number to make a difference.

In my plan LHD's and LPD's would form the capital ships of our amphib forces with these LSD replacements acting as a jack of all trades to be ridden hard.

I like it.