Marine corps plays part in a shrinking military vehicle industrial base.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Whether it's munitions, space, combat vehicles or submarines, maintaining the industrial base for sectors unique to the military has been a growing concern.

A halt in new-start programs caused by declining budgets has sent up warning flares from companies that are worried about permanently losing the capability to produce hardware.

The Marine Corps has singular needs as well, particularly for amphibious vehicles that support ship-to-shore operations.

But when a spokesman for one of the service's major contractors was asked if his company was concerned about the Marine Corps vehicle industrial base, he said there was no such thing.

"Their vehicle purchases are not significant [enough] to create an 'industrial base' as we know the Army's combat vehicle industrial base today," Peter keating, spokesman for General Dynamics Land Systems, said in an email.

"They've not executed a design and development effort for a new combat vehicle since the [expeditionary fighting vehicle] program was canceled by the secretary of defense," he said.

The mine resistant, ambush protected tactical wheeled vehicles the service purchased were off-the-shelf designs, he noted.

"The above is why I would have difficulty commenting on [a] U.S. Marine Corps 'industrial base," Keating added.

Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager for combat vehicles at BAE Systems--GD's main competitor in the amphibious vehicle market--mostly agreed. "While there isn't what I would call a unique Marine Corps industrial base, the Marines are an important part of both the tactical wheeled vehicle industrial base and the combat vehicle industrial base," he said.

There are some singular characteristics in some platforms that are developed or delivered to the Marine Corps, but they are a component of those categories, he added.

The expeditionary fighting vehicle was one of those unique platforms. It was designed to be launched from a ship miles away from shore, sail as it if were a boat, then change into a fighting vehicle after it reached land. After GD Land Systems and the Marine Corps spent more than a decade developing the program, it was canceled in 2011 because it could not meet performance requirements.

Since then, no vehicle program devoted to the Marine Corps has gotten underway.

The follow-on Amphibious Combat Vehicle program is still being "studied." The land-based Marine Personnel Carrier program is on hold. There was no money in the fiscal year 2014 budget allocated to...