If I might add to my last, the thing about using the V-22 is that it would not necessarilly be coming in from an amphib 20nm off the cost, but rather from a land facility in the area by using mid-air refueling. After depositing troops, the V-22s could go to the nearest LHA(R) (say 100nm off shore to enhance surprise) thus permitting a higher number of troops to be inserted in a shorter time period.

" As long as we own the air there should be no problem," 'Should' is the operative word there. I've got a stack of articals on my shelves written by the guys who were there doing it. Their descriptions of what went right & wrong each day add up to "it still aint always there when we need it".

Not trying to be argumentative, but a few significant advances have occurred since Afghanistan. Very soon the SDB will be available to the military. It has up to a 60nm glide path. So any aircraft with it has in effect a 120nm diameter perimiter which it can strike. The Predator-A/B are also more common. In the B model you get 3000lbs of noisemakers, and it can stay in the area for 24 hours. I suspect that we can put up enough aircraft and UAVs to provide PGMs for a huge area. While nothing is 100%, if we put in troops inland I'm sure ,we'd be able to give them a lot of protection. It sure beats VN where you could call for air support and get some rather imprecise napalm delivered after a 30 minute wait.