Did the Navy help sink the EFV?

Jonathan sent me this article on the killing of the EFV from the New York Times...read the whole thing here, but this portion caught my attention...

Navy officials have suggested that Marines would only undertake assaults after enemy defenses had been largely subdued through weeks of bombing by ships and planes. But retired Marines say it is naïve to think that the military would always have such a luxury of time or that bombing works that well.

My first impression when I read that was WTF?!  And my second was...what office was putting this out?  Which part of the Navy has declared war on the Marine Corps?  The article did not name officials but I'm definitely trying to find out.  More later.

Navy, Army and Marines conduct logistics exercise.

USS CARTER HALL, At Sea-Marines from 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit transfer a 7-ton truck from amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) onto U.S. Army logistics support vessel USAV SP/4 James A. Loux (LSV-6) during a stern gate transfer. During a stern gate transfer, two ships at sea connect to transport supplies, equipment and personnel. Carter Hall is part of Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristin L. Grover/Released), PO3 Kristin L. Grover, 12/23/2010 8:06 AM

USS CARTER HALL, At Sea-U.S. Army logistics support vessel USAV SP/4 James A. Loux (LSV-6) prepares to conduct a stern gate transfer with amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50). During a stern gate transfer, two ships at sea connect to transport supplies, equipment and personnel. Carter Hall is part of Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristin L. Grover/Released), PO3 Kristin L. Grover, 12/23/2010 7:31 AM

USS CARTER HALL, At Sea-Amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) performs a stern gate transfer with U.S. Army logistics support vessel USAV SP/4 James A. Loux (LSV-6). During a stern gate transfer, two ships at sea connect to transport supplies, equipment and personnel.Carter Hall is part of Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristin L. Grover/Released), PO3 Kristin L. Grover, 12/23/2010 8:02 AM

USS CARTER HALL, At Sea-U.S. Army landing craft utility USAV Molino Del Rey (LCU 2029) prepares to perform a stern gate transfer with amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50). During a stern gate transfer, two ships at sea connect to transport supplies, equipment and personnel. Carter Hall is part of Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristin L. Grover/Released), PO3 Class Kristin L. Grover, 12/23/2010 10:03 AM


Awesome.  I'm personally happy to see this.  While this may seem like a non-event, its much more than that.  This is another step in the Sea-Basing Concept.  If they could only get the JHSV (and maybe an LHA/LHD) into the act next time then all the basic pieces will be in place.  But even more importantly, the US Army is finally getting into the act.  If that service buys in then the concept is assured of further funding.

A Common Sense Statement on the J-20.

via Flight Global.com ... read the whole thing here.

Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, warns about concluding much based on available images.
"Drawing even tentative conclusions about anything other than the basic airframe configuration strikes me as speculative," he says. "The canard-delta configuration, coupled with canted vertical fins, is reminiscent of MiG's now cancelled 1.42 programme, and it would be interesting to know why the Chinese designers settled on this approach, rather than that of the Lockheed F-22 or Sukhoi T-50 platform."

Joe Cool...

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier provides security during a foot patrol in Allikozai village, Sangin district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 30, 2010. U.S. Marines with India Company, 3rd battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division patrolled the area with ANA soldiers to meet with village elders and deliver funds to help repair a mosque. (DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. William Price, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)

EFV dead? Its your fault Marine Corps!

If this story from DoDBuzz is true...then the EFV is heading toward the chopping blocks.

Headquarters Marine Corps, the EFV program office and the Commandant have only one place to look when they're trying to find the victim villain in this saga....THE FREAKING MIRROR!

How can a service who's reason for being is Amphibious Assault have allowed this most important of weapon systems to be delayed over and over again....allowed it to go over budget over and over again...and expect it to survive?

I don't have a clue.  But several factors led to this...

1.  A lack of urgency. 

During the day's of the Bush administration, the taps were turned on for defense spending.  Of all the services, only the US Army seemed ready to exploit the opportunity this provided.  The Marine Corps was caught flat footed and instead of pushing through with evolutionary capabilities chose instead to push for risky, costly revolutionary ones instead.  This caused delay, delay costs time, time costs money and money is part of the reason this system got killed.

2.  Marine Air screwed Marine Ground.

Our air side has lived high on the hog and got too large a share of the budget.  How can I say this you ask?  Because the USMC is due to receive the AH-1Z, UH-1Y, CH-53K, MV-22 and the F-35B.  What new gear has the ground side received?  The MTVR, LVRS, M-777, and refurbished M1 Abrams done over as Assault Breacher Vehicles.  Oh and we're also due to get our hands on the IAR...a rifle that the Grunts don't want, that the Gunners love and the Infantry Community is still debating.

3.  Think Tank Follies.

Every new administration has a favorite think tank.  I have my own (yes Dr. Thompson, you're my hero and the Lexington Institute rocks) but even hero's sometimes get it wrong.  Thompson has advocated (during the Bush administrations tenure) for an emphasis on transforming the Marine Corps into more of a Commando type force.  The new administration doesn't have a plan but have harped on silly notions of Theater Entry as opposed to Amphibious Assault.  A later post will cover my issues with both concepts but suffice it to say that the latter concept (in vogue now) is aimed only at the Marine Corps and has at its roots an effort to weaken the need for assault from the sea (amphibious lift) and the tools to carry it out (the EFV).

While the efforts by think tanks are mainly fodder for Congressional Aides, they do invoke discussion, debate and ultimately influence budget decisions.

4.  FAILURE TO TELL THE MARINE CORPS STORY!

This is our biggest failure.

This is an indication that our culture is weakening.

This shows that we have not remembered our history...we've forgotten former (budget) battles.

Every article discussing the Marine Corps in magazines and newspapers starts off with..."after 10 years of warfare the Marine Corps has become a second Army!"

NONSENSE!  And the saddest part of this is that those very words originated with our former Commandant!  

Last year was a busy, almost chaotic year for Marine Forces worldwide.  Action and activity in Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan...  Training local forces in Europe, Africa, Asia... Providing forces afloat in the Pacific and the Atlantic... And finally maintaining skills in Bridgeport, 29 Palms and Ft. A.P. Hill.

Second land Army my ass.  But the story isn't being told and Headquarters Marine Corps is sipping coffee instead of ringing telephones.

Finally.

If the EFV is indeed on the chopping block then we've got to get a replacement for the AAV up and running with the speed of a loving husband getting his pregnant wife to the hospital while she's in the middle of labor.

General Dynamics has had its bite at the apple.  They didn't get it done.  Too bad so sad.  Pack your bags.  We might give you another chance in about 10 years...but right now, its time to ring BAE's phone...have them do to the AAV platform that they did with the CV-90 Armadillo and simply get a major upgrade on evolutionary systems.

A more hydrodynamic form.  Upgraded engines.  A remote weapon station (with the ATK cannon).  Improved water jets....

Its all doable, and we should be able to have a fully amphibious...swift (is 15 knots possible with upgraded water jets?...not as fast as the EFV but possible), mobile (able to maintain pace with M1's cross country), hi tech and mine resistant vehicle on the drawing boards by the end of the year....ready for demonstration by the middle of next year and ready for production by the year after that.

URGENCY, 

EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION 

AND PROPER COMMUNICATION WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT THE MARINE CORPS IS DOING AND WHAT THE MARINE CORPS NEEDS TO DO ITS MISSION.  


That's how you win budget fights...how did we forget that?


Required Reading...The History Of Marine Corps Aviation 1912-1985 emphasis on the acquisition of the Harrier AV-8A and the 'warfare' necessary to make it happen...

Lockheed Martin's Joint Air to Ground Missile

J-20 Concept Art.

SinoDefense and SinoDefense Forum have been posting CGI of the new J-20.  These are the best of what I've seen...from where I'm sitting it appears that the Key Publishing Forum and SinoDefense Forum are the best sites for breaking info on this airplane.  Check them both out.

LHA-6. No well deck? No problem!

The title is definitely tongue in cheek.  Perhaps the Brits came up with a suitable work around...the stern gate.

But here's a primer on the LHA-6 gate issues (note the reference to the failed operations of the LPH during the 1970's) ...

via National Defense Magazine (its an old article but definitely worth the read)...

An aviation-centric amphibious ship is not a new concept. In the late 1950s, the Navy built a class of amphibious assault ships called Landing Platform Helicopters, or LPH. These vessels carried Marines and rotory-wing aircraft. The only way to leave the ship was by air.

“That turned out to be largely a failed experiment,” says Work. In operations off the coast of Lebanon in the late 1970s, the ships’ helicopters encountered a significant air threat that resulted in the Marines being transferred to another amphibious ship to go ashore by sea.

“What we learned about the LPH is that we needed a well deck,” says Marine Col. Robert Coates, director of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s training and exercise group.

and this...oh and note...that's the same Robert Work that's now Under Secretary of the Navy...

The aviation-centric design of the LHA replacement — or LHA(R) — also has raised questions about its long term usefulness. Considering that Marines require heavy trucks and armored vehicles once they reach the shore, most of that equipment can only be transported by hovercraft, not by helicopters.

“It’s been a long-running debate, and it’s still not settled,” says Robert Work, a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C. “There are a lot of questions on LHA(R). Will it become the standard, or will it become only a niche capability?”

Historic Pic of the day. Jan 3, 2011.

via NavSource.org

The amphibious assault ships of Commander, Task Force Fifty One (CTF-51) come together in an unprecedented formation during operations in the North Arabian Gulf. This marked the first time that six large deck amphibious ships from the East and West coasts have deployed together in one area of operation. Led by the flag ship USS Tarawa (LHA-1), the ships are (from left to right):
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6),
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3),
USS Bataan (LHD-5),
USS Saipan (LHA-2), and
USS Boxer (LHD-4).
CTF-51 led Navy amphibious forces in the Arabian Gulf region during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 32 ships of CTF-51 composed the largest amphibious force assembled since the Inchon landing, during the Korean War. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people and end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
US Navy photo # 030420-N-2515C-091 North Arabian Gulf (Apr. 20, 2003) by PH2 Larry S. Carlson.
US Navy photo # 030420-N-7128D-011 North Arabian Gulf (Apr. 20, 2003) by PHC Tom Daily.

F-35 AF4's first flight.

The fourth conventional takeoff and landing variant, AF-3, completed its first flight on 30 December 2010. Piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti, AF-4 took off from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. AF-4 is the tenth F-35 to fly and the third test jet to fly with the next-generation avionics package that will populate all operational F-35s. The successful flight was the final test mission of 2010 for the Joint Strike Fighter program, which logged 410 flights for the year.