The service’s top civilian painted the JLTV Tuesday as a product of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which might not be suited for potential future high-tech fights. Mark Esper placed it alongside other programs that started life before the 2018 National Defense Strategy.Story here.
“Now my emphasis has to be on rebuilding my armor, rebuilding my fighting vehicles, having aircraft that can penetrate Russian and Chinese air defenses,” Esper said. In those potential conflicts, the Army needs platforms “that can shoot down Russian and Chinese drones, and missiles, and helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.”
Wow.
The Chinook and JLTV were built to COIN specifications and not nation state? That's wild. Don't know if its true but it's a bold statement.
His remarks regarding Army aircraft is a bit puzzling though.
Why is the Army talking about "penetrating" enemy air defenses? I thought Army Aviation was dedicated toward supporting the forces on the ground exclusively.
And we all know what happened the last time the Army did an "Apache Raid" (story here...did you know that its considered the only battle won by the Iraqis during the war?).
Overall the plan makes sense but I wonder if they didn't wait too late. The terrible 20's are here and funding will be difficult.
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