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Marine Corps

After three generations of converting surplus/obsolete SSBN hull forms to commando carriers, it’s time to start planning for a Columbia Class commando-carrying variant. Despite a lot of classification, open records suggest undersea commando carriers have accumulated a record of success that stretches back to World War II. And with the Marine Corps already organizing their […]

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The Army’s Navy Re-Awakens: Don’t Overlook MSV(L)

by Craig Hooper on December 16, 2017

With 2017 drawing to a close, it occurred to me that I have been remiss on discussing the reinvigoration of the “Army’s Navy” with the award of the Light Maneuver Support Vessel (MSV(L)) building contract. I have also been remiss in highlighting the winning prime contractor, an “on-the-move” multi-state industrial conglomerate called Vigor Industrial. Under […]

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Groundhog Day For American LCUs

by admin on December 14, 2015

After more than twenty years of trying, America’s failure to recapitalize the humble Landing Craft, Utility, or LCU, is inexplicable. “Oh, but it’s really happening this time”, claim the learned observers. “Why,” they say, “today, we have an RFI out for a “NEW” LCU 1700 program, asking if shipbuilders can finalize a design (shudder) and […]

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The ACV Program Advances!

by admin on November 28, 2015

For those who have been reading me over the years, it should come as no surprise that I am a big fan of the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV 1.1) Program (look here and here). I mean, heck, I was for the ACV 1.1 Program back when it was originally the Marine Personnel […]

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Appreciate China’s Big New Seaplane

by admin on August 7, 2014

A good deal of polite Western snickering met the announcement that China was on the verge of building large seaplanes–an “old technology”, scoffed the haters, whose “heyday came and went with the demise of the Pan Am Trans-Oceanic Clipper”. But at least one Chinese aviation commentator dispensed a bit of wisdom for the doubters: “The […]

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U.S. Marine Corps: Fight Your Connectors!

by admin on April 30, 2014

There is a long-standing idea out in the world of “amphibious assault” that connectors (those things that are supposed to move from a ship to a beach and back) should be pure logistical creatures. With Operational Maneuver From The Sea, the idea of fighting in the space between the ship and shore is almost a […]

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Is the recent release of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 RFI a sign that the U.S. Marine Corps finally going to get serious about procuring modern amphibious vehicles? I have something of a personal stake in this, after urging the USMC to reconsider the early 2013 abandonment of the Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC) back […]

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As Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel heads off to Asia to urge resolution of some of Asia’s island disputes, many Americans will continue to scratch their heads in wonder as to why several Asian countries are at loggerheads over some small, seemingly useless and unpopulated islands. It’s a hopeless case of nationalism gone amok, signal […]

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To continue the discussion of Marine Corps amphibious warfare, I turn to the amphibious tank, an asset the Marines have been trying to procure since the early days of Operational Maneuver From the Sea (OMFTS).  Now, let me be frank– I like the idea of an amphibious tank, and believe a turn towards the Pacific […]

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Marine Corps Week: Look to your LCUs

by admin on November 3, 2013

There is a certain rigidity to Marine Corps thinking on amphibious warfare that is exasperating. It’s ironic–Their decades-long pursuit of tools to enable “Operational Maneuver From the Sea” (an inherently adaptable approach to the amphibious battlefield) has spawned far too many rigid doctrinarians.  And that crowd is either unable–or unwilling–to break away from their OMFTS […]

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