A short conversation with USMC 0802 led me to this conclusion. The USMC labored hard to produce a doctrine that is completely null and void. In short the Ship to Objective Maneuver concept (STOM) is no longer valid.
Reference the video of the hour...ACV Ground Modernization. One of the bullet points from the video is to use LCACs and JHSVs to carry the ACV from the sea base (which could be located up to and over 100 miles offshore) to a launch point approx 3 miles off shore and then they will do an "in stream" launch of the vehicles.
Think about that for one minute.
We're going to send LCACs and JHSVs...and possibly even updated LCUs into an area that is so heavily defended that we won't send our combat capable amphibious ships. So instead we send these thin skinned, unarmed surface transports in!
That's insanity!
But it gets worse. If you're a "seagoing 101st" Marine Corps advocate then consider the planning necessary to setup a corridor for the MV-22 to get to the LZ. Not only will you have to knock out any and all anti-air capable systems (this will range from S-500/400/300 to shoulder launched missiles, to RPGs and then small arms) but you will also have to escort the V-22s to the landing area. Remember that the MV/CV-22 had its skirt raised in Africa not too long ago when Navy SEALs flying aboard it got chewed up and they're lucky to not have died. They only suffered terrible injuries...injuries so bad that they had to do an inflight blood transfusion to save the wounded.
But back to the insertion. Marine planners have found that the AH-1Z is too slow to keep up with the V-22 and the F-35/Harriers are too fast. So before you even get to mission planning on objective you have a tremendous logistical challenge to solve....and thats just with the aircraft involved. Do you launch your V-22's first and have the F-35's arrive just before touch down? Do you need to sanitize the area first? What is your loiter time for close air support? Oh and want a savage kick in the pants? The average MEU will not have enough Fast Movers to maintain an effective cap and if the MEU/sea base is operating anywhere from 60-100 or more miles off shore then AH-1Zs will not be able to arrive to help with the work (Google the effective range and loiter time of a fully loaded Viper...you will be unpleasantly surprised)!
And then finally we get to the last leg of the STOM triad. The EFV or as they call it now the ACV. We've gone from having the Marine Personnel Carrier being a surrogate vehicle to it now becoming the actual replacement for the AAV! What do we get for the inability to carry a full strength Marine Rifle Squad in each vehicle?
We get a ride that is wheeled (and I have yet to see documentation that wheels can go where tracks can), carries half the number of Marines that an AAV can, can go through the water at the same speed and is supposedly more mine resistant by virtue of it having higher ground clearance.
We labored hard to produce the Ship to Objective Maneuver concept but didn't do the work of seeing how the pieces would all fit together.
As much as I like the Havoc and SuperAV. As much as I'm warming to the Terrex 2.
One thing is obvious and Marine Land is gonna hate me for it.
We need to fucking stop.
Think about the possible.
Think about the now.
And re-do our entire concept of operations. The real answer is the old answer. We are going to have to roll back enemy defenses. We are going to have to have the US Navy big deck carriers on deck. We are going to need major support from the Surface Navy.
If it is a contested landing...even if we land where they ain't...modern enemy defenses require that we neutralize the threat before we send forces ashore.
Old skool Marines know this. We thought we knew better than they did and we were wrong. We were so wrong.
NOTE: Hindsight is 20/20. When the EFV program collapsed, so did the STOM concept. It got buried when the former Commandant started his diatribe of operating up to 100 miles off shore. While I'm positive it was an attempt to explain his vacillation and indecision on the ACV...while at the same time promoting the use of the V-22, it instead condemned the Marine Corps to a delay in getting its messaging and doctrine straight. STOM is dead. The USMC family just needs to accept it.
.jpg)
