Bill is quick to point out the costs of Marine Corps weapon systems...but this critic of the Corps fails to recognize the failings of his beloved Air Force....
These figures are copied directly from Wikipedia...
F-22...
US$150 million (flyaway cost for FY2009)
B-2....
$737 million (1997 cost for each aircraft only, $1.01 billion today)
F-15E....
[F-15E: US$31.1 million (flyaway cost, 1998)[2]
F-15K: US$100 million (2006]
But if that's not enough then lets look at the growth in the weight of vehicles...
M-113
12.3 tonnes (13.6 ST; 12.1 LT)
Bradley IFV
27.6 tonnes (30.4 short tons)
Stryker ICV
ICV: 16.47 t (18.12 sh tn)
MGS: 18.77 t (20.65 sh tn)
GCV
up to 60 tons
In short Bill is simply taking aim at the Marine Corps because it serves his purpose but his argument is flawed beyond belief.
Its been a slam the Marine Corps month at Ares and now in DTI.
That's a shame.
Sorry, I don't see any 'failings' in the list…And the AF is hardly 'beloved' by the Berserkin’ Hedge Baby transplanted from the 'Shires. He's made his living for decades doing two things fairly well: 1. Cataloguing facts and figures of what ‘has become’ (sometimes accompanied with pretty pictures) and 2. Speculating as to what someday ‘might be’. Neither of which have anything to do with the third thing he seems to be doing more frequently these days: proffering pretentious views on ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’.
ReplyDeleteLOL
ReplyDelete"proffering pretentious views on ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’."
My dad does that quite a bit too, I think it's called getting old ;-)
paulicus
I agree, this is no "rant" against the USMC - on the contrary, it is a pretty sober assertion of the situation the Corps finds itself in.
ReplyDeletePardon me. This is surely off topic, so please have me excused. However, thought this short video Norwegian soldiers in battle might be of interest to someone of Solmon's readers caliber.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbOapcXRrCE
Salute!
B. Bolsøy
Oslo
Given Bill's rabid hatred of all things F-35 his rant against the USMC doesn't surprise me. If the USMC didn't need STOVL aircraft it would be easier to claim we could get by with 4th generation F-teens. Seriously, Ares is barely readable anymore as Bill seems to have gone completely off the deep end.
ReplyDelete-sferrin