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Marines Need to Add Ships, Lose Weight, Exploit Data

The Corps is running low of amphibious vessels and overburdened on the battlefield.

The U.S. Marine Corps needs more amphibious ships as it returns to its roots amid tight budgets. The Corps also needs to lighten the load its warfighters bear, and it wants to be able to access advanced intelligence data from its most sophisticated platform.

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., USMC, commandant of the Marine Corps, described these Corps issues to attendees at the Thursday luncheon panel during West 2015, being held in San Diego, February 10-12. Gen. Dunford allowed that the Marines are looking at alternative ways of moving Marines over the sea, as the service is low on ships. The Corps is to have 33 ships under existing shipbuilding programs, but the requirement is for between 33 and 50 ships, he adds. It is determining if some proposed alternative platforms are capable of carrying the V-22 Osprey.

Echoing remarks made on Tuesday by the commanding general of the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, USMC, Gen. Dunford said the Corps needs help on reducing the weight carried by individual Marines. He also called for a high-speed, self-protecting amphibious vehicle. And, he said the Marine Air-Ground Task Force must be able to leverage the capabilities of the F-35, which is a flying sensor platform.