Type 96A, new armour package, FCS and thermal imager, JD-3 IR jammer and GL5 hard kill APS

Type 96B, upgraded gun, engine and FCS. Main external differntiator is the moving of exhausts from right side of hull to rear pic.twitter.com/vBDYXqPNq8

— Jon Hawkes (@JonHawkes275) August 6, 2020

The war against China will be in AFRICA!  It might be proxy forces that are lavishly equipped with Chinese Advisors or it might be frontline Chinese forces but it will be AFRICA not the Pacific!!!!

Do you see the armor above?

How well do you think the Missile Marine Corps would fare in a fight against a couple of Mech/Armor Battalions?

The answer?  NOT GOOD.  Casualties wouldn't be the problem.  The problem will be that all those small, isolated (they call it dispersed) units, will be located and destroyed in order.

What is my answer (cause people seem to want to know)?

REINFORCE THE MEU!  ADD TO EXISTING CAPABILITIES INSTEAD OF TRYING TO REVAMP THE FORCE AROUND PIXIE DUST!

Let's address amphibious ships first.  This is the one place where Amos was right.  He was a fan of the Mistral Class before I was.  It just makes too much sense in my opinion.  It's just a bit lighter than the San Antonio Class, can support MUCH MORE ROBUST flight operations, has similar capability to launch surface assaults and is AFFORDABLE!  One America Class, San Antonio Class along with two Mistral Class ships could easily provide the early entry punch that we all desire and hope for.

Next up would be artillery.  On this Berger is on the right path but getting there in the wrong way.  What do we need a return to?  Regimental Artillery!  We don't have 8in guns in service anymore but we could field ATACMS there to break up armored assaults and to attack other targets.  Working with the Army we could develop new land and surface attack missiles that fit the MLRS (maybe fewer missiles but they could range further).  If not then we could go with bigger missiles mounted on alternate platforms.  The MTVR is just waiting to be pressed into service as a missile launch platform.

The ACV?  Needs to be turned into a family of vehicles.  Full stop.  No need to keep playing with the idea of a Marine Corps Fighting Vehicle.  We needed one 40 years ago and we need one today.

Aviation?

This is the monster in the room that NO COMMANDANT has been able to cage. Simply put aviation is killing/has killed the Marine Corps and is the reason why we're seeing this bastardized Missile Marine Corps headed down the pike.

The main problem I see is that the AVIATION NECK DOWN CAMPAIGN has failed miserably!

Light Strike should make a comeback.  It might be heresy but the V-280 as a tilt rotor light strike platform makes too much sense.  Cut the F-35 buy and get some of those.  Cut more F-35s and get onboard the Navy's program and buy Super Hornets.  Rethink the CH-53K.  One hundred million dollars for a helo?  Someone at HQMC is smoking crack.  If the EFV could get canned for cost then so should this bird.  Cut KC-130s.  The refueling mission should be tossed to the USAF and buddy tanking utilized when not possible.  AH-1Z/UH-1Y should also go away with their mission being taken over by the V-280.

There's alot more but I don't have much time.  We're gonna dig into this deeper this weekend but this should get us started.

Simple question.

If you're as alarmed as I am at the thought of the Missile Marine Corps then what's your force design for the future?