Quote:
Originally Posted by zovs66
Pat,
Could you shed some light on why the USMC is going to shred their Tanks?
I am biased and just can't imagine the Marines with Tanks...
Thanks
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Currently each USMC Division has one (yes one) tank battalion.
The "problem" is they're big and HEAVY, thus hard to transport. None of the LCMs can carry one, the WW II LSTs (Landing Ship Tank) have pretty much gone the way of the Dodo. The only thing currently available to ferrying them ashore is the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and it can barely carry an M1A1 (60 ton cargo capacity, 75 tons if the sea is calm).
So you pretty much need a cargo ship, and a port facility to get them ashore.
This doesn't mesh well with the USMCs mission as a rapid reaction/deployment force. The USMC has ALWAYS seen tanks as an infantry support unit not an anti-armor one. They have Helos and ATGMs for dealing with vehicles simply because they have so few tanks chances are they won't be where they're needed to counter opposition armor.
So the plan is to disband three of the four tank battalions; keeping one (probably with 1st MarDiv in California, they're the "desert" division). The money saved not buying/maintaining tanks can be used for other things (keep in mind the USMC has a tiny budget compared to the other US service branches).
As to cutting back on artillery, well, as much as Don HATES it the USMC has relied on "flying artillery" since WW II. The US Navy (and it's carriers) is suppose to achieve local air superiority (without it amphibious landings are impossible) so Marine Air is ground attack, necessary SEAD and escort aircraft, NOT "air superiority fighters". This is why the USMC is so insistent on the Harrier and F-35B (STOVL), we don't expect to have access to the nice huge paved runways the US Air Force needs. And we can (and do) land on any old road (or flat field) and refuel/rearm off trucks, no fixed facilities for the opposition to target.
The other piece of this is helos, for the size of it's ground combat formations the USMC has a very high proportion of helos (only pure AirCav formations have more). Each infantry battalion is generally supported by four AH-1Zs and two UH-1Ys (primarily observation) and enough MV-22s and CH-53s to helolift an infantry company plus it's (non-tank/AAV) assets, so there's always a helo close at hand to deal with armor or dump a load of rockets on a soft target. Again, land anywhere, drive fuel and ammo trucks up, refuel/reload, and you're back in the fight.