Note. The pics are from DVID of an Expeditionary Airfield being constructed. Question to Commandant "I make friction" Berger. How the fuck are you gonna operate such a site without it being detected and bombed back into dust by the Chinese? An LZ that you limit the number of aircraft flying into...tucked tight into the jungle? Yeah I can see that. Landing F-35s to refuel and rearm? Dude put down the crack pipe! He seriously needs an intervention!
Thanks to Pegase for the pics...
They're building a solid Air Ground Task Force that is able to scale up and down the spectrum of combat, is mobile both tactically and strategically and can fight and win against heavy mech forces.
Want to see ground force procurement done right? Look at the Aussies and the French. Those two nations appear to have cracked the code.
The Missile Marines? A one trick pony with a VERY limited future. Side question. Since the Missile Marines have given up on amphibious assault does that mean that the US Army will also pick up that mission set? Have no fear. I'm beat right now but we'll look at that and try and figure out how the Army will realign the 25th ID and 2nd ID to perform that mission in the Pacific.
US Missile Marine aircraft aboard the Queen Elizabeth.
No one will say it but this is a MASSIVE embarrassment for the UK MOD.
Why?
Because this lays bare a few things. The Brits don't have the aircraft to fill the decks of their own carrier. The Marine Corps has moved beyond the idea of big deck amphibs and has labeled them as non-survivable in a future conflict. The number of F-35s in USMC service is gonna be cut and the same is happening to the Brits.
Last but not least it doesn't take a futurist to predict that the Brits probably won't volunteer for a fight with China. Talk about "out of area" operations and you have it with the Brits getting into that fight!
Long story short?
This whole thing is passe. From the future concept that is being laid out, to the ridiculousness of the Brits not even being able to put their own aircraft on their own ship, and finally to an interoperability thing that is finally being shown to have no clothes.
Whoever came up with this idea should be forced into retirement.
via Military.com
The ACV program is currently in low-rate initial production (LRIP), but the initial fielding will still occur in October instead of November or December, he added.
"It could have even been later than that and still be within what we refer to as the program baseline," Garner said. "We are actually in the second year of LRIP, so we are building vehicles now, and those vehicles will continue to be fielded."
The Marine Corps intends to field another unit in southern California in the January-February timeframe, he said.
"We have a stream of vehicles coming off the production line right now so ... we are going to continue fielding a unit about every two-to-three months," Garner said. "This is only the start; we are going to continue at a fairly regular rate from this point onward."
I'm sticking by my prediction.
The ACV will be canceled.
I give the following reasons.
1. Berger has already stated that the Marine Corps will not ask for another cent from Congress.
2. The focus of the Missile Marines will apparently be the Indo-Pacific and nowhere else. If that is true then the need for protected transport of Missile Marines no longer exists.
3. Berger has already stated that he will divest the Marine Corps of hardware to buy the stuff he needs for his twisted, jacked up and misguided transformation.
4. This fielding decision could be made now. No need to wait. We've been waiting on the ACV for an eternity.
Long story short?
It goes back to the issue with LAR. Just like LAR, AAV Bn is the walking dead. The reaction to the disbanding to tanks and cannons has so riled up certain members of the Marine Corps that won't speak out publicly (but will give hints to their discomfort in e-mails) that to make the announcement now (that the ACV has been canned) will result in a small rebellion.
Its just a matter of timing boys and girls.
I like this vehicle.
I like BAE.
But Berger doesn't and like an axe murderer he's chasing down his prey and this time its the ACV.
Caption to the pics.
Photographer Tanto Yensen captured the incredible moment a mouse and frog became friends in Indonesia. He explained: “The frog opened its mouth to try and eat it but then changed its mind and became friends with the mouse instead."
“We, all of us, love the things we are getting rid of," Berger said during his Wednesday morning the keynote speech at the virtual Modern Day Marine expo held from Quantico, Virginia. “We have to make hard decisions about what we must retain."
The Marine Corps is cutting or reducing these programs to free up money in the budget to reinvest in what is needed in the future fight against China, Berger said.
He's right but it won't be in the Pacific. It'll be in Africa. More from the same article.
The plan would require Marines to “live” and operate well within range of China’s missile defense system, playing a sea denial and skirmish role against the Chinese military as the rest of the U.S. joint force moves in to win the war.
In order to survive against the Chinese missile threat the Corps will have to change its logistics network and work to reduce its signature in order to hide from the enemy, Berger said Wednesday.
Why does he not think (or wargame) China enhancing its sensor network to be able to locate these units? Once located they're meat on the table. I just don't get his thinking. Additionally can anyone explain how we went from an A2/AD penetrating their bubble to operating inside it type thinking? Whiplash anyone? Semper Gumby is one thing but the twists and turns from the Pentagon on the "latest and greatest" strategy (really buzzwords) is beyond tiring. A bit more.
The new technology will likely come out at a large cost, but the Marine Corps does not plan on asking Congress for money to pay for it, Berger said.
Instead the money saved from cutting 2,000 Marines in 2021, no longer supporting tank battalions and reducing the size of F-35B and F-35C squadrons from 16 to 10 planes will be used to buy the equipment necessary to fight the war, Berger envisions.
“We’re not asking for a nickel more the Marine Corps is not asking for any end strength increase any money increase," Berger said.
I've been using the old 150K number as the projected future end strength of the Missile Marines because Amos slipped and let that cat out the bag awhile ago. I'm revising my thinking. If this holds and Berger doesn't ask for an additional cent AND the budget doesn't increase then I'm guessing it'll actually be around 100K. If Berger puts into practice the whiff that I'm getting that he's focused only on China then it might be a bit smaller than even that.
The US Marines, Missile Marines, any Marines can't survive this kind of strategy.
If this plan is allowed to go forward then the Marines (in whatever form) are done.
Berger needs an intervention.
I might have to take this down because although the info I'm passing isn't classified, it does go against some common memes and thoughts. Thoughts that I even once held. '
Let's start with the one that kicked off all this madness. The Floyd Incident. A few things that you need to know. In that dept a knee restraint is allowed. So no matter how bad it looks its allowed in that dept use of force. The LEOs called for an ambulance twice. The second time was to tell them to step it up (get there quicker!). Floyd DID have a mix of drugs in his system. Finally he DID resist getting placed into the squad car.
That is straight from a brief I had.
The next concerns the Taylor Shooting. It too was legit. Taylor's boyfriend was a wanted drug dealer, they had a no knock warrant for his arrest. The kicker? They did announce as police before entry and they had a right to defend themselves when HE started shooting at them.
I'm not saying this. This is from a brief we had on the incident.
We're all getting played. Police are being overly cautious by waiting till all facts comeout so that they can properly give the whole story while a narrative is being allowed to, form in the general public and its obvious that someone in the media feels like the narrative being pushed is of benefit even when they know the facts.
Communicate people.
That is the key to getting shit done the right way.
Our communities need to start talking to and not at each other. That's the only way to get this back on track.
via Breaking Defense.
The Marine Corps is moving quickly to develop a new kind of infantry unit to challenge Chinese claims on small islands in the Pacific, while the Navy is developing new and smaller ships to move and supply them once they deploy.
The new Littoral Regiments won’t be fully fleshed out for several years, but Marine Corps leaders said today they will be bolstered by logistics and air defense battalions once they’re ready to go.
The Corps is wargaming “what assets would we be able to place in that battle space that are very low signature and that give us the firepower that we need to be a relevant force that provides consequences, should we get past the deterrence phase,” Maj. Gen. Kevin Iiams, assistant deputy commandant of Combat Development, told reporters at the virtual Modern Day Marine event today.
The Corps envisions three new regiments, with two based in Japan and one in Guam.
Plans call for the regiment to undergo wargames and experimentation for about three years until a unit is fleshed out and ready to actually deploy.
“Much like our [Marine air-ground task forces] that we have now, there are support elements to it,” Iiams said. “So, we’ll have a littoral combat team; we’ll have a littoral logistics battalion; and we’ll have an anti-air battalion,” Iiams added.
The units are part of the Corps’ effort to move toward building a fast-moving, hard to detect “inside force” that can operate within range of Chinese and Russian weapons ranges while packing a potent offensive punch.
A few things.
* We already knew this. I view this "announcement" as an effort to regain the momentum in Berger's "transformation". He's bogging down and he's running out of time.
* Remember when it was all about penetrating China's A2/AD zone? Now its all about operating inside of it. Amazing isn't it?
* Ships. A new toy is the make or break part of this concept? Stupid thing to place such a huge bet on. Think about it. The US Navy has finally rid itself of the amphibious assault requirement (you're welcome Navy...our Commandant is being batshit crazy) but in exchange the Missile Marines are asking for new ships? While the Navy already is lacking battle force ships that can contribute to the fight (yeah the Marines are talking about shooting from shore...Navy leadership is well aware that the cost benefit analysis of this plan is poor at best)? This is a hard ask for the Navy, a punch in the gut and probably viewed as pure folly.
* They're now talking anti-air? Seriously? This is another crazy part of this plan! Short range anti-air missiles against a storm of Chinese cruise missiles that will obliterate on shore anti-ship missile complexes? Its not gonna work.
* The cost of this plan must be staggering if its taken to completion. Think about it. The Marine Corps is standing up a littoral regiment. Building a division that is focused on China...but in order to do it, it's had to slash tanks, F-35's, CH-53K's and other forces? Is this new plan even affordable?
So much more to talk about but I'm out of time.
Hmm. Don't know how much stock I put in reports like this. I'll wait and see before jumping thru hoops. Don't know if you're aware but we had reports of this earlier this year and late last year and they could never be confirmed but were vigorously denied. Time will tell?The reports emerged after a Russian Air Force Su-30 fighter aircraft crashed in the Tver region during a routine training flight on September 22https://t.co/F8Msg5Whuz
— Defense Brief (@BriefDefense) September 23, 2020
