Marine Corps.

• Author: Kojro, Chester A.
• Position: Readers' Forum - Letter to the editor

* In reference to the Oct. 2012 articles, "Marines Counting on Robots to Keep Them Out of Harm's Way" (p. 29) and "Frugality, Careful Timing Drive Marines' Modernization Plan" (p. 40), from the squad, all the way through to the amphibious Force, the Marine Corps' modernization strategy is ill-conceived, a wasteful plan leading to certain failure.

With the robotic Ground Unmanned Soldier Surrogate, everyone forgot that light infantry goes places where motorized equipment cannot. Some might suggest alternate routes, but meandering independently toward a rendezvous with all the equipment and no driver?

What happens when it meets an obstacle, breaks down or is seized by indigenous scavengers, never mind enemy forces?

Consider its vaunted multi-mission capability: Carry squad gear and evacuate casualties. Okay, so there is a casualty: Dump all the gear and then load the casualty onto the vehicle and send it on its robotic way?

Having finally recognized that infantry is overloaded, skip all this gee-whiz and costly robotic development nonsense. Having determined that commercial-off-the-shelf utility vehicles are suitable as tactical cargo vehicles, just buy them and issue them to troops now. At current costs, you can even discard them after the operation rather than evacuate and repair them.

Now consider the amphibious force modernization plan. First the parts:

Of the 1,000 40-year-old Assault Amphibious Vehicles, less than 400 will be reset--upgraded armor, blast-mitigating seats, beefed up suspension--from 2015 to 2017. The remaining 600 will be in service in their current configuration until replaced by the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) starting perhaps in 2030. So anyone joining up today can expect to serve until retiring and yet never see these vehicles "modernized."

The ACV, expected to enter service in 2030, is yet another iteration of the canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Just like that program, the ACV is an amphibious landship; a fast amphibian transporter that is also an armored fighting vehicle.

Being designed for both roles, it will do neither well. In fact, among the six alternatives being studied, one is actually the "reset" AAV.

Having not yet reached a decision on what's adequate and effective or even needed, why proceed with a repeat of a failed proposal? Although about 1,100 EFV/ACVs/AAVs are required, only 600 ACVs will be procured and so the 400 reset AAVs will remain in service until replaced by the MPC sometime...