Marine Aviation 2010

Marine aviation forces are deployed around the globe, conducting combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, humanitarian operations in Haiti, security cooperation missions in Southeast Asia, and deterrence in East Asia. As this article is being written, there are four MEUs at sea with embarked aviation combat elements (ACEs) and three F/A–18 squadrons integrated into Navy carrier air wings. As has been the case for the past 7 years, most of Marine aviation is either forward deployed or getting ready to deploy.

Winning the Current Fight

Over the past few months Marine forces turned over a peaceful Al Anbar Province, after 6 years of combat, at the same time that combat power was being increased significantly in Afghanistan. In many ways Marine aviation is tailor made for combat operations in Afghanistan. Our aircraft are designed from the ground up to be expeditionary—to “live hard”—and living hard gives Marine aviation a distinct operational advantage. By requiring minimal logistical support, Marine Corps aviation can focus on providing maximum combat power to the joint force. In order to move large numbers of Marines rapidly into southern Afghanistan, MEB-Af?ghanistan (MEB-A) leaned on the aviation expeditionary enablers resident within the ACE—Marine air control group units, Marine wing support squadrons (MWSSs), heavy-lift assault support aircraft like CH–53D and CH–53E helicopters, and the KC–
130J. These strategic assets enabled MEB-A to build up combat power quickly throughout the depth of its battlespace.

Our MWSS Marines and SeaBees first established just enough infrastructure in Afghanistan to ensure an adequate state of combat readiness, then they turned their attention to building a 3,000-foot landing strip, allowing us to surge logistics support and aviation command and control into Forward Operating Base (FOB) Dwyer. By conventional standards FOB Dwyer (since extended to 4,300 feet) would be considered “short,” but it is long enough to operate every one of the MEB’s aviation assets, including its AV–8B Harriers. The AV–8B has performed superbly in Afghanistan, and the utility of these short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) tactical aircraft has been borne out in some unexpected ways.

For example, Kandahar has an immensely busy airfield with just one runway that on many occasions has been shut down due to aircraft crashes or enemy attacks. When that occurs, the only NATO tactical aviation (TacAir) strike platform able to take off and land has been the Harrier. Whether operating from Kandahar’s taxiways when the main runway is closed, from FOB Bastion when the winds are 90 degrees off center, or from the short expeditionary strip that our MWSS Marines dug out of the austere desert at FOB Dwyer, the AV–8B represents precisely the kind of operational game changer the Marine Corps envisions with an all-STOVL Joint Strike Fighter force in the future.

The MV–22B Osprey, now armed with an effective all-aspect weapons system and sophisticated aircraft survivability equipment, is also ranging throughout the Afghanistan battlespace, transiting above the threat to deliver Marines, special operators, and logistics support at ranges and speeds that no other assault support platform can match. Every day and in every mission flown, MEB-A and MAG–40 are writing new pages in the Osprey tactics manual—and new chapters in aviation history. MV–22Bs, along with our legacy assault support platforms, are moving men and materiel throughout the area of responsibility, providing the MEB the agility it needs to fight and win effectively.

We have also introduced our newest helicopter, the UH–1Y Venom, to combat operations in Afghanistan. This aircraft has been most impressive, flying at speeds close to 160 knots, delivering eight fully loaded Marines into hostile landing zones, and teaming with AH–1W Cobras and Harriers to provide close air support when our riflemen need it. We have only begun to scratch the surface on the “art of the possible” with this fantastic machine, but its compelling value will be even more clear once the AH–1Z Viper arrives in the next 2 years. Our assault support assets have performed magnificently in Afghanistan, moving Ma?rines and logistics throughout a battlespace that is laced with improvised explosive devices and extremely limited ground mobility.

In Afghanistan, electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets are extremely valuable ACE contributors. Our EA–6B Prowlers are integrated fully into the scheme of maneuver of the MEB and the joint force, thus proving again the need for electronic warfare assets in much greater numbers than anyone can provide at the present. Without exception, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are also exceeding expectations while supporting our Marines in the complex terrain of Afghanistan. Highly effective Scan Eagle and Shadow operations have become an essential element of operations on the modern battlefield, and our Marine unmanned aerial vehicle squadrons have risen to the challenge with innovative new tactics, techniques, and procedures.

This spring we will deploy F/A–18 Hornets to Afghanistan, and we are preparing for the introduction of this tremendous asset by bringing arresting gear into our FOBs and adding runway length wherever feasible to enable seamless operations in support of the MEB. We will commit two F/A–18 squadrons for 6-month rotations to Afghanistan, while meeting our tactical air integration commitments to the Navy carriers and keeping four squadrons forward deployed continuously in the Western Pacific.

Sustaining the Force

The key to Marine aviation’s success is operational readiness. We are focused on keeping readiness rates high in our forward deployed units—but also for those returning from and those preparing to deploy. As impressive as our aviation ground support Marines have been in establishing expeditionary runways and facilities, our aircraft maintenance Marines have been equally impressive in keeping our aircraft in fighting trim. Not only are we flying three times the designed utilization rates for many of our platforms, but we are doing it in combat, in an environment that is far more austere than anything we saw in Iraq. We are doing it with machines that have been flown hard for the last 9 years. Even in the face of these challenges, our Marines have achieved the lowest aircraft mishap rates in Marine Corps history and are keeping our readiness rates high.

    We are constantly upgrading our aircraft to ensure they remain capable and relevant on the modern battlefield. New components, engines, airfoils, sensors, and weapons are being integrated into our legacy aircraft, many times with those upgrades being installed on site at our FOBs in Afghanistan. New engines in our CH–53Ds, upgraded engines and new protection equipment on our CH–46s and CH–53Es, new sensors on our AH–1Ws, and upgraded LITENING pods for our TacAir platforms are improvements that have particular relevance to sustaining the force in Afghanistan.

    We have worked hard to increase the ISR capabilities of the ACE, equipping our H–1 fleet with upgraded and state-of-the-art sensors, such as Brite Star II (now with a downlink capability); an upgraded night targeting system and tactical video downlink on our AH–1Ws; laser designators on the Shadow UAS; and LITENING pods with downlink on our AV–8s, F/A–18s, and EA–6Bs. We are also developing the Harvest Hawk capability for the KC–130J aerial refueler. In the Harvest Hawk program we are equipping nine of our KC–130Js with a roll-on/roll-off high-fidelity sensor, Hellfire missiles, small yield laser/global positioning system precision weapons and, later, a 30mm cannon in a platform that can still pass fuel to an airborne receiver. We intend to deploy Harvest Hawk to Afghanistan as soon as it’s ready later this year.

Modernizing for the Future: Building the 2025 ACE

Marine aviation is in the middle of a complete modernization program in which every machine in our inventory will be replaced by new, exponentially more capable platforms.

UASs. The transition from Pioneer to Shadow UAS has been completed. This spring we will install laser designators on Shadow, and within the next year we intend to rewing and weaponize them. Before 2011 Scan Eagle services will be replaced with the small tactical UAS Tier II program, consisting of 32 systems of 5 aircraft each. Future plans include the procurement of large Group 4 systems in the post-2015 time frame and unmanned helicopter cargo aircraft as soon as suitable alternatives are identified.

Assault support aircraft. All legacy KC–130F/Rs have been replaced with the KC–130J in the Active force, and over the next few years, we will also replace all of the Reserve KC–130Ts. We have completely transitioned the 2d MAW’s CH–46E fleet to an all-MV–22B Osprey force. Our first Ospreys have been delivered to 3d MAW squadrons aboard MCAS Miramar, and we will transition two new Osprey squadrons per year until we will have procured 360 MV–22s. We have started the transition from UH–1Ns to UH–1Ys on the west coast. These machines have completed one MEU deployment and are now in the middle of a deployment to Afghanistan. Our AH–1Ws will soon be replaced by AH–1Z Vipers, providing another significant increase in capability for a tried and true combat performer. The Viper is now in operational test, and we expect to see our first squadrons become operational in 2011. Finally, the CH–53K is on track for introduction in 2018 as a highly capable heavy-lift replacement that will meet the future needs of our Corps.

TacAir. The Marine Corps will replace all F/A–18s, AV–8Bs, and EA–6Bs with 420 F–35B Joint Strike Fighters between now and the year 2025. Two F–35Bs are currently flying at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, and two more are in final test at the Lockheed Martin plant in Texas. Last month the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 Warlords, the first Marine Corps F–35B training squadron, stood up at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. This squadron’s mission is to train the F–35B pilots and maintainers who will man our first operational squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 332, which is expected to reach initial operational capability before the end of 2012 in MAG–13. The incredible sensing and computing power of the very low observable Joint Strike Fighter promises to revolutionize combat across the range of military operations, and Marine Corps TacAir will provide the joint force with the only seabased fifth-generation strike fighter for a number of years—a true “two-fisted fighter” from the sea.

We have been steadfast in keeping our modernization programs on track and in procuring new aircraft and systems in the numbers we need. Some have postulated that since these platforms are so much more capable we could do what we do with fewer aircraft in the future. However, we don’t want tomorrow’s Corps to be as capable as today’s. We want it to be far more capable. These machines, procured in the numbers laid out in our aviation plan and manned by thoughtful, innovative Marines, will do just that.

Win, sustain, modernize has been the focus of Marine aviation. These three words tell a story about the effectiveness of Marine aviation and its potential for the future—but not the complete story. As with everything we have done in our Corps’ past, it’s not the equipment we buy, sustain, or fight with that will make us successful on the battlefield; it’s our Marines. Their imaginations, ideas, and creativity will lead to innovative employment of the tools we give them. That’s true of every piece of equipment we have in use today, and I’m confident it will be that way in the future. We are brought up to think and problem solve in the Corps—always as an integrated air-ground-logistics team. No other Service can compare to the innovation and agility of the Marine Corps. I attribute this to our team mindset, and that is our greatest warfighting asset and the key to our future.