Tyler misses the mark on the F-35 & the MEU.

Tyler over at FoxTrot Alpha Blog has an article up where he covers what the USMC must do to make the F-35 pay dividends despite its huge cost.  Its well worth the read.

He misses the mark however.  Check this out...

Because of the fielding of the F-35B, the Expeditionary Strike Group can now transform into a "first day of war" force, capable of operating independently of the USAF and a nuclear powered aircraft carrier's deployed air wing, even against a formidable foe. An ESG will now be able to provide its own highly capable combat air patrols, its own destruction of enemy air defenses, its own penetrating airborne reconnaissance, and its own manned deep strike capabilities. Simply put, F-35B breaks the ESG's dependencies on multitude of external assets, many of which will be already taxed to the limit during a serious conflict against a credible peer state foe which may occur over a vast theater. No longer will close proximity land bases or massive aerial "tanker bridges" for USAF F-22s or F-16s be a mission breaking issue for an ESG in such a high-threat combat situation. And most importantly, traditional Carrier Strike Groups, and their massive air wings, can be decoupled from the expeditionary strike group during such operations, making them free to fight the enemy from another location.
In effect, the F-35B not only gives the Expeditionary Strike Group a major capability boost, but by giving the ESG operational independence it also boosts America's "total force" far more than the sum of its parts. High value assets that would traditionally be needed to work in conjunction with an ESG against a hardened enemy will be free to go other places and do other things. One of these things may be simply staying home, thus saving precious airframe time and operating costs during lower intensity conflicts.

I don't know how this idea gained traction but the Marine Corps is not organized nor is it equipped....even with the F-35...to take on high tech threats by itself.

The thought that you would send a MEU against enemy air assets and worse conduct deep strike missions with the planes that can fit on the decks of a big amphib is craziness.

This idea that big deck amphibs are in essence mini-aircraft carriers that can pinch hit for full sized ones is ludicrous.

You can't fix this by designing the Marine Corps around this airplane.  It isn't working with the MV-22 and it won't work here.  The concept is flawed and there is no saving it from itself.  In a very short time, current leadership will be criticized by historians for weakening America's defenses.  The primary villain will be the F-35 and its supporters.