The Marine Corps has quietly, over the past 6 or 7yrs, been shaping the Forced Entry and Crisis Response capability of the next millenium w/ NASA and Aero-Space Industries. It's called SUSTAIN-Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion.
By seizing on the emerging SCRAM-Jet technologies they are in early development w/ the Industry towards a series SCRAM-Jets capable of Deploying 13-20 man Squads of Marines.
SCRAM-Jets are Hyper-Sonic Air/Space Craft that break the earth's atmosphere then skim across it at speeds of Mach 4 thru Mach 10.
They will be able to deploy a company-sized Expeditionary Unit of DO Capable Marines anywhere in the world in 2HRs or less.
The list of missions range fr/ Crisis Response and In-Extremis Hostage Rescue to QRF for SOF, capable of re-inforcing Special Operations Missions world wide at a moments notice. |