USMC Armed Recon Vehicle...please don't mess this up!

via AOL Breaking Defense.

By 2023, the Marine Corps wants prototypes for a radically new scout unit they want to be the ground version of the F-35 — scouting ahead into hostile territory, killing key targets, and feeding data back to the rest of the force. Though called the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle, the project has evolved well beyond a straightforward replacement for the aging Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) into a networked family of manned vehicles, ground robots, and drones, collectively capable of not only reconnaissance but also electronic warfare and long-range precision strikes.

Story here. 

I have been monitoring this thing and I'm a bit 'worried'.  They're talking about a tremendous amount of capability stuffed in one package, and this has the smell of being a program of emphasis.  By that I can easily see this being the lead ground program very shortly.

Concerns?

1.  Mission overload.  They're gonna be tasked with electronic warfare, operating UAVs, and engaging enemy forces (to include armored vehicles) as well as traditional recon/cav roles of scouting for the enemy, protecting flanks etc....?

2.  Networking.  I get the mantra.  I understand the desire but I am a bit worried about the vulnerability of these networks.  Time will tell if these concerns are warranted.

3.  Traditional mission set.  As soon as you start piling on missions to a particular vehicle it becomes a master of none.  What happens to the LAVs traditional mission sets?  Do they become second fiddle to UAV operations and electronic warfare?  If that's the case then why even put them in armored vehicles?  Just use a JLTV or better yet an a MTVR to give the operators of those systems a bit of room?

They talked about this possibly being a repeat of the F-35 or FCS projects and I think they might have a point.

Keep an eye on this one tribe!

But to be honest I just have doubts and really nothing to base it on, so all I have to say to the bubbas at HQMC is this.  Please don't mess this up!