By Geoff Fein
The Marine Corps has $3.01 billion in unmet needs for FY ’08, which includes $1.7 billion for a 10th San Antonio-class LPD-17, Humvees and aircraft, according to Commandant Gen. James Conway.
A 10th LPD-17 would reduce the risk of meeting the service’s 2.0 Marine Expeditionary Brigade Assault Echelon lift capability. The additional ship also reduces risk in providing operationally available amphibious ships and support the Navy mission of expanded global war on terror operations, according to the Marine Corps.
Northrop Grumman [NOC] builds the LPD-17-class ships at its Gulf Coast shipyards in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Last year, the Marine Corps told lawmakers the service had $3.1 billion in unmet needs, led by $2.8 billion for 2,700 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles (Defense Daily, Feb. 14, 2007). This year there are no requests to fund MRAPs, but the Marine Corps has noted it needs $169 million for 1,080 expanded capacity vehicles.
Because of delays in the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle procurement and current shortfalls, failure to fund the additional 1,080 expanded capacity Humvees will exacerbate the existing light tactical vehicle gap that continues to grow as other armored HMMWs reach the end of their economic useful life, according to the Marine Corps.
AM General makes the Humvee.
Conway said the Marine Corps needs $120 million for advancement procurement of three Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT] UH-1s and two Bell AH-1Z helicopters.
The service also needs $149.5 million for advanced procurement of two additional KC-130J aircraft.
The Marine Corps is also seeking $141 million for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter spares. The unfunded shortfall equates to $141 million for performance based logistics. “The funding level is currently less than 20 percent of the requirement, impeding the attainment of the level of performance required for FY ’09.”
Continued shortfalls in PBL will result in the program being unable to procure the essential support for the first Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35B aircraft delivered for pilot training, according to the Marine Corps.
The service also needs $210 million for 70 Directional Infrared Counter-Measures system for the CH-53, CH-46 and MV-22.
The Marine Corps also needs $54 million for 18 Lightweight 155mm Howitzers to begin chipping away at a shortfall of 108 systems in the approved acquisition objective.
While the service last year sought an additional $10 million for an electronic attack unmanned aerial vehicles, in FY ’09 there is no similar funding need.
Last year, the Marine Corps sought an additional $14 million to establish an urban operations laboratory (UOL) to assess the impacts of various technologies, from concept development through operational implementation at the UOL. For FY ’09, Conway said the service needs $6 million to continue research and operation of the UOL.
“UOL has a focus on the development and enhancement of non-lethal capabilities in the urban environment to include vehicle stopping systems and bomb detection capabilities,” according to the Marine Corps.
The service also needs $37.5 million for four Light Armored Vehicle Reliability Availability and Maintainability (LAV-RAM). The funds would buy four prototypes to conduct development and testing of modified LAV-Anti Tank (LAV-AT) turrets.
The Marine Corps also wants to get three Enterprise Land Mobile Radios (ELMR) at a cost of $47 million. The funds would enable first responder capability that integrates with local and country governments at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Pendleton, Calif., MCB Bridgeport, Calif., and MCB Twenty-nine Palms, Calif.