The CB-90 is only 3 million dollars? The USMC should get a few dozen and dump the LSM idea.

Still don't like the SIF concept but the CB-90 is only 3 million dollars? IF WE CAN rebuild an enhanced USMC that can do amphibious assaults and kill ships we should get some!
The Stand-In Force Needs Sea Legs https://t.co/LKlQ3jQm2f

— Solomon (@SnafuBlogspot) May 26, 2023

The author in this story is making the case for CB-90s for the SIF. Still hate that concept and believe its an evolutionary dead end that will utterly fail if used in combat and will ruin the careers of all involved. HOWEVER, a certain reader has been making the case for CB-90s for years now and considering its price tag we should buy a few dozen and enhance the Marine Corps instead of turning it into a bitched up Naval Auxillary. This footnote caught my attention (read the article).

16. Mallory Shelbourne, “Navy Awards BAE Systems $140 Million Contract Modification for ACV Lot 2,” InsideDefense.com, 7 December 2018; Naval Technology, “Combat Boat 90 (CB-90) Sweden,” Naval-Technology.com; “Mk VI Patrol Boats, United States of America,” Naval-Technology.com; and Jeremiah Gertler, V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Program (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 19 April 2012), 6. At a price around $3 million for the CB-90 or $7 million for the Mk VI, loss of one of these platforms is far more palatable than losing a $100 million LAW, $70 million MV-22 Osprey, or even a $14 million ACV.

Uh, why is the ACV so expensive?  That Turk MAV is looking more and more attractive.  I'm a fan of BAE but I'll be damned if it doesn't look like this whole thing ran off the rails somewhere.

But more importantly is the cost of the CB-90.  3 mil?  Why waste the ACV in the Pacific if we can transport, provide fires and patrol with CB-90s?

Berger talked about a campaign of learning.

More like a campaign of ripping this thing apart and starting from zero.  The next Commandant has a mess on his hands.  Berger left him in a VERY hard spot.