CH-53K, the USMC and the Inspector General.

A blistering report from the DoD Inspector General on the CH-53K.

As a result, the Marine Corps risks spending $22.2 billion in procurement and operating and support funding for 44 additional aircraft that have not been justified and may not be needed to support future Marine Corps mission requirements.

Read the entire summary here.

The Marine Corps originally had a requirement of 200 CH-53Ks when the force was measured at being 202,000.  Currently its projected to fall to 182,000 and many believe (but aren't saying publicly) that it could drop to 150,000 or even lower.

With that as a backdrop, the Inspector General is saying that the Marine Corps is buying excess capability.

So how will the Marine Corps justify it?

Expect the Marines to offer up both a V-22 and CH-53K squadron to SOCOM for support.  Some in the airwing have been pushing the idea for years and its gained traction lately.  If you've been paying attention MV-22s are exercising more and more with SOCOM.

The sad part of this?  22.4 billion would buy the entire run of MPCs and fund the AAV upgrade.