From the blog "Intel Dump:"
http://www.philcarter.blogspot.com/
"...for example, this mindset will accept cutting the Marine helicopter fleet to equip it with V-22 Ospreys. Yeah, yeah, longer range, more speed, more capacity, great. Also more maintenance, more expense if you lose one, hence more protective systems and doctrines focused on protecting the investment, hence even higher cost, longer development time, less availability, and sometimes even reluctance to take risks with the equipment. Bad idea. Personally, I'd rather replace the CH-53s and CH-46s with updated version of conventional helicopters (the EH-101 is an example), which work just fine and use proven technology. That way more Marines can be air-transportable, which lets the Marines do more interesting things with concepts like seabasing and widens their choice of tactics on the ground."
In addition to the above reference, Strategypage recently posted a blog about Marine attack Cobras, UH-1's and Army Apaches gettting shot to pieces in GW2.
Queston!
Does the vulnerability of the Cobra, the age of the CH-46 & -53 fleets and purchase of very, very expensive V-22s and JSFs in limited numbers put Marine aviation in jeopardy??
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