No fancy images on this one.
Just cold hard reality.
First, I'm the biggest fan of the airplane. My belief that it will be a war winner hasn't changed. My belief that its a tremendous step forward hasn't changed.
Financial reality is a bitch though.
The Marine Corps is about to fall ANOTHER generation behind in ground combat vehicles because the F-35 in particular is sucking all the procurement dollars out of the room.
That is unacceptable.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is falling further behind. It will NOT be completed, designed or even in testing before this Commandant leaves office. I'm not calling him a liar but if you believe the talking point that the request for proposals was delayed AGAIN because "we only get one time to get this right" then I've got some beautiful ocean front swamp land to sell you that's guaranteed to thrill the ladies.
Aviation has done good, hard work in Afghanistan. I'm not going to riddle this with inter-Marine Corps squabbling but consider...while the AAV labors on...the M1 Abrams gets older in the tooth while allies are upgrading their MBT's...while our HUMVEEs are old and beat up, we have decided to spend precious resources to update our AH-1Z's, UH-1Y's, bought like new British Harriers, MV-22's and are in the process of buying F-35's.
Surprisingly enough the one air vehicle that could be a boon to the ground sides real vulnerability (logistics) has been delayed (CH-53K).
I support the F-35. But for the sake of the Marine Corps we must delay it.
Update: Sauce for the goose. An update on the ACV program. Click here.
Update 1: I don't know if blame should be laid at the feet of the Marine Corps or at manufacturers but I do know this. The Marine Corps not only badly planned the purchase of new vehicles and aircraft---the plan they came up with caused block obsolescence---but failed when it came to implementing those plans. Our two big programs, the EFV and the F-35 both were in develop for over a decade. Say that out loud. A freaking decade. What do we have to show for it? Nothing. Not only did we continue with an aborted plan to purchase the Marine Personnel Carrier (which was intended as a stopgap and now might end up being the next generation AAV) that should have been re-evaluated after the cancellation of the EFV but no lessons were learned about having a sense of urgency when it comes to procurement. In essence we wasted the heady days of Bush spending whatever amount on whatever vehicles the military wanted, but we've gotten to the place that everyone predicted we'd be. We're at a place where the military will be forced to pay for social programs of dubious worth. I would weep for my Marine Corps but leadership brought us to this point. Integrity and honor would demand resignations. LCpl's and even Lt's have been courtmartialled for less.
Just cold hard reality.
First, I'm the biggest fan of the airplane. My belief that it will be a war winner hasn't changed. My belief that its a tremendous step forward hasn't changed.
Financial reality is a bitch though.
The Marine Corps is about to fall ANOTHER generation behind in ground combat vehicles because the F-35 in particular is sucking all the procurement dollars out of the room.
That is unacceptable.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is falling further behind. It will NOT be completed, designed or even in testing before this Commandant leaves office. I'm not calling him a liar but if you believe the talking point that the request for proposals was delayed AGAIN because "we only get one time to get this right" then I've got some beautiful ocean front swamp land to sell you that's guaranteed to thrill the ladies.
Aviation has done good, hard work in Afghanistan. I'm not going to riddle this with inter-Marine Corps squabbling but consider...while the AAV labors on...the M1 Abrams gets older in the tooth while allies are upgrading their MBT's...while our HUMVEEs are old and beat up, we have decided to spend precious resources to update our AH-1Z's, UH-1Y's, bought like new British Harriers, MV-22's and are in the process of buying F-35's.
Surprisingly enough the one air vehicle that could be a boon to the ground sides real vulnerability (logistics) has been delayed (CH-53K).
I support the F-35. But for the sake of the Marine Corps we must delay it.
Update: Sauce for the goose. An update on the ACV program. Click here.
Update 1: I don't know if blame should be laid at the feet of the Marine Corps or at manufacturers but I do know this. The Marine Corps not only badly planned the purchase of new vehicles and aircraft---the plan they came up with caused block obsolescence---but failed when it came to implementing those plans. Our two big programs, the EFV and the F-35 both were in develop for over a decade. Say that out loud. A freaking decade. What do we have to show for it? Nothing. Not only did we continue with an aborted plan to purchase the Marine Personnel Carrier (which was intended as a stopgap and now might end up being the next generation AAV) that should have been re-evaluated after the cancellation of the EFV but no lessons were learned about having a sense of urgency when it comes to procurement. In essence we wasted the heady days of Bush spending whatever amount on whatever vehicles the military wanted, but we've gotten to the place that everyone predicted we'd be. We're at a place where the military will be forced to pay for social programs of dubious worth. I would weep for my Marine Corps but leadership brought us to this point. Integrity and honor would demand resignations. LCpl's and even Lt's have been courtmartialled for less.