European investment in armored vehicles...

Comparison of investment in new AFVs by France, Britain and Germany. France seems well organised to conduct expeditionary deployments. Britain and Germany just aren't doing enough, even before we start talking about artillery. pic.twitter.com/d7sIxJ3XcP

— Nicholas Drummond (@nicholadrummond) October 13, 2019

I'm just doing this off the top of my head and I could be totally wrong...but! Is it just my imagination or does the USMC's armored force compare favorably to what we're seeing from the Germans, the French and the Brits?

I often look across the field (metaphorically) at all the armor possessed by the US Army and marvel.

But is that the right measuring stick?

Of course we're moving to new concepts but if we were to stick to the tried and true then you'd also have to add in naval aviation to our mix (or at the very least USMC Air) and suddenly that old Marine Air Ground Task Force begins to look damn near unbeatable.

Of course if we follow this rabbit hole down to the end then we have to start looking at roles/functions and consider what is the proper size of the Marine Corps (and every other service).

I don't know what the planners are foreseeing with a fight with China but I have to wonder if this is one time where staying the course makes more sense than radical change.

Time will tell and we'll be able to make a proper assessment when we get more details of the new Commandant's plan.

One thing concerns.

Remember when Amos was in the big chair and we were told that 1k mile raids via MV-22 were the future?  Well we never got a look at the validation of those exercises and after actions on them never hit a professional journal.

This thing could be baked into the cake and the decision already made.  Time will tell.