House Armed Services Committee begs Army to speed up Light Tank & M1 Abrams replacement programs...

via AOL Breaking Defense.

Congress wants the Army to get its tanks in gear. Today, the House Armed Services Committee released its draft of the 2018 defense policy bill, which all but begged the Army to accelerate its air-deployable Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle. MPF would fill a void in light tanks that’s existed since the M551 Sheridan was retired in 1996. A separate provision would order the Army to report on its plans for modernizing its heavy armored forces across the board, including “the development of a next generation infantry fighting vehicle and main battle tank” to replace the M2 Bradley and M1 Abrams respectively.

Story here. 

Wow.  The USMC is looking at a world of hurt if the Army (and the rest of the world) speeds up its armor programs.

Consider this.  If the Army fields a credible Light Tank then the USMC will be in a box.  Do we follow the lead or stay with a heavy tank.  But it doesn't stop there.  If the Army continues to upgrade the Abrams AND accelerates its work on its replacement then hell will descend on us.

Why?

Because we will face a three pronged debate.  Do we go light with the light tank, stay heavy with the M1 or do we wait and see what comes out of the Abrams replacement?

Either way its gonna cost bucks and I remain unconvinced that the air power that's coming online won't continue to drain the coffers even after they're purchased.  We should be getting a least an idea of how much it costs to maintain the F-35 but I can't find it anywhere.

And no one is asking the question.

If the MV-22 doesn't dramatically improve and if the CH-53K is an expensive piece of gear to maintain then our budget will be in a hurt locker.

Which leads to the last option.

We might be forced to operate the M1A1 till 2050 and beyond based on budget alone.  That would be like taking an upgraded M4 Sherman into Gulf War 1.