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KC-130J. The KC-130J will bring increased capability and mission flexibility to the planning table with its satellite communications system, survivability, and enhancements in aircraft systems, night systems, and rapid ground refueling. The KC-130J is procured as a commercial off-the-shelf aircraft that is currently in production. We are pursuing a multi-year program for purchase with the US Air Force.

Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle. The Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) is the Marine Corps' only Acquisition Category ID program and will be one of the principal enablers of the Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare concept. AAAV will provide never before realized high-speed land and water maneuver, a highly lethal day/night fighting ability, and advanced armor and NuclearBiological-Chemical protection. This coupled with a systematic integration into emerging service and Joint Command and Control networked information, communications and intelligence architectures—will provide the Marine Corps with increased operational tempo, survivability, and lethality across the spectrum of operations.

Maritime Pre-positioning Force. The Maritime Pre-positioning Force (Future) will be the true enabler of primarily sea-based operations. When it becomes operational, the future Maritime Prepositioning Force role will expand beyond that of today, and will provide a true seabasing capability. In this regard, it will serve four functions that the current capability cannot:

(1) Phased at-sea arrival and assembly of units; (2) Selective offload of equipment and cargo; (3) Long-term, sea-based sustainment of the landing force; and (4) At-sea reconstitution and redeployment of the force. The Naval Services are exploring several new technology areas during the development of Maritime Pre-positioning Force (Future). Currently, the Maritime Pre-positioning Force (Future) Program is conducting an analysis of alternatives to inform an acquisition decision by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

High-Speed Vessel (HSV). High-speed vessels will enhance the Marine Corps' capability to perform a wide range of missions, from providing support to a theater security cooperation plan to sustaining long-term operations ashore. High-speed vessels can enhance our ability to conduct seabased operations and use the sea as maneuver space. HSVs do not have the loitering and forcible entry capabilities of amphibious ships or the pre-positioning capacity of our Maritime Pre-positioned Force Squadrons. However, their shallow draft, high speed, maneuverability, and open architecture make them a valuable link in a seamless logistics system that extends from source of supply to the sea base and the joint force, enabling a faster, more responsive, and capable deployment of a range of force modules from forward-based "hubs" such as Okinawa, or from the United States. The Marine Corps is

currently testing and validating these concepts by employing a high-speed vessel in the Pacific theater as a form of strategic lift.

Power Projection Platforms. Combined with embarked Marines, Naval expeditionary warships provide the Nation with forward-presence and flexible crisis response forces. They also provide a truly unparalleled expeditionary forcible-entry capability. As part of a joint effort, the Marine Corps will remain capable of getting to the fight rapidly in order to decisively deter or defeat adversaries who try to impose their will on our country or its allies. A fiscally constrained programmatic goal of twelve Amphibious Ready Groups - one that deliberately accepts increased operational risk by attempting to balance force structure with available resources - does not change the warfighting requirement to lift the Assault Echelons of three Marine Expeditionary Brigades via future platforms for amphibious shipping. The Marine Corps supports the LPD-17 and a modified LHD-8 (“Plug Plus") ship design in FY 2007 and will evaluate the adequacy of the R&D and SCN funding for the development of future LHA(R) ships for the remainder of the class.

Mine Countermeasure Capabilities. Naval expeditionary forces require an effective countermine warfare capability to open and maintain sea lines of communication and to operate within the littoral battle space. This is probably our greatest concern when it comes to projecting power in an antiaccess environment. With respect to mine countermeasures, we require a family of capabilities that encompasses mine detection, location, neutralization, marking, and data dissemination. Designed to provide an organic mine counter-measures capability within operationally acceptable timelines and with acceptable levels of operational risk, this next generation of systems includes the Advanced Mine Detector, the Assault Breacher Vehicle, the Remote Minehunting System and the Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System. Our most critical mine countermeasures deficiencies exist in the area near the shoreline through the high water mark and beyond, where detection and neutralization capabilities are extremely limited. Given the broad proliferation of known and unknown mined areas throughout the world, we must improve our ability to operate in this exceptionally lethal environment. Our intent is to leverage America's strength in technology to dramatically improve our ability to locate and avoid or neutralize mines and obstacles as necessary, and eventually remove the man from the minefield.

Fires and Effects

With the increased range and speed of expeditionary mobility assets, the landward area of influence of Naval forces has increased by an order of magnitude. Consequently, the Nation requires weapon systems with correspondingly greater range. lethality, flexibility and tactical mobility. A range

of lethal and non-lethal fire-support programs is moving the Corps in that direction. The development and acquisition of non-lethal weapons systems will expand the number of options available to commanders confronted with situations in which the use of deadly force is inappropriate. The Marine Corps is developing a robust non-lethal capability that will address the non-lethal core requirements of clearing facilities, crowd control and area denial. Additionally, we are enhancing the capabilities with which we can affect our adversaries that defy the traditional concept of weapons and fire-support means. Technical advances in directed-energy weapons hold much promise for future capabilities in this area.

Joint Strike Fighter. The Joint Strike Fighter is the next-generation strikefighter for the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy and will replace the Marine Corps' AV-8B and F/A-18A/C/Ds. The JSF family of aircraft will include a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, a conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant, and an aircraft carrier-capable variant. Commonality between the variants will reduce both development and life cycle costs and will result in significant savings when compared to the development of three separate aircraft. The Marine Corps requires that its STOVL variant be able to operate from large-deck amphibious ships, austere sites, and forward operating bases. The STOVL Joint Strike Fighter version can use from three to five times more airfields around the world than our existing conventional take-off and landing aircraft. Moreover, because the STOVL variant can operate from both conventional carriers and amphibious assault ship decks, it thereby effectively doubles the number of platforms available for seabased operations. The advantages of a stealthy STOVL strike fighter-capable of taking off from an expeditionary base on land or at sea, flying at supersonic cruise, accomplishing its mission with advanced sensors and weapons, and then returning to its expeditionary site are dramatic. The STOVL Joint Strike Fighter will provide the reliability, survivability, and lethality that Marines will need in the years ahead, and transform the very foundations of Naval tactical air power for the 21" Century.

Naval Surface Fire Support. Our ability to provide fires in support of expeditionary forces operations beyond the beach has not kept pace with the dramatic increases in mobility. Critical deficiencies currently exist in the capability of the Navy to provide all-weather, accurate, lethal and responsive fire support throughout the depth of the littoral in support of expeditionary operations. The Marine Corps supports the Navy's near-term efforts to develop an enhanced Naval surface fire suppon capability with the fielding of the 5-inch/62-caliber Naval gun and the development of extended-range munitions. In the far-term, the Marine Corps supports the development and fielding of the Advanced Destroyer [DD(X)], armed with 155mm Advanced Gun Systems and Land Attack Missiles, to fully

meet our Naval surface fire support requirements. Our Nation's expeditionary forces ashore will remain at considerable risk for want of suitable sea-based fire support until DD(X) joins the fleet in significant numbers.

Indirect Fire-Support. A triad of indirect fire-support programs will provide needed firepower enhancements for Marines in the near- to mid-term. The first element of the triad is the Lightweight155mm (LW-155) towed howitzer needed to replace our current M-198 howitzer, which is at the end of its service life. The Lightweight-155 is a joint Marine Corps-Army effort that will meet or exceed all the requirements of the current system while significantly reducing its weight.

The second element, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), will deliver very high volumes of rocket artillery in support of the ground scheme of maneuver. The HIMARS will provide accurate, responsive general support and general support reinforcing indirect fires at long range, under all weather conditions, and throughout all phases of combat operations ashore. It will fire both precision and area munitions to a maximum range of 36 miles.

The Expeditionary Fire Support System, the third system of the land-based fire support triad, will accompany Marines in any expeditionary mode of operation. It will be the primary indirect firesupport system for the vertical assault element of the ship-to-objective maneuver force. The Expeditionary Fire Support System, as a system, will be internally transportable by helicopter or tiltrotor aircraft to allow the greatest range and flexibility of employment for our future operations.

Information Operations. Defense planners are engaged in studies exploring Information Operations as a core military competency, fully integrated into both deliberate and crisis action planning. The Marine Corps intends to enhance our operational capability in both offensive and defensive Information Operations. Marine Corps doctrine and warfighting publications are being reviewed and revised to acknowledge Information Operations as a core warfighting capability fundamental to all operations spanning the spectrum of conflict with equal significance during noncombatant and humanitarian operations. We recognize a requirement to develop and train an Information Operations career force of trained professionals from the ground up in support of joint and inter-agency efforts.

New Weapons Technologies. The Corps is particularly interested in adapting truly transformational weapon technologies. We have forged partnerships throughout the Department of Defense, other Agencies, and with industry over the past several years in an effort to develop and adapt the most hopeful areas of science and technology. Several notable programs with promising technologies include: (1) advanced tactical lasers, (2) high-power microwave, non-lethal active denial

systems, (3) free electron lasers, (4) electro-magnetic guns (rail guns), and (5) common modular

missiles for aircraft.

Logistics and Combat Service Support

The Marine Corps logistics' vision is to significantly enhance the expeditionary and joint warfighting capabilities of our Operating Forces. Key warfighting capabilities encompassed in our future concepts -Enhanced Networked Seabasing and Ship-To-Objective-Maneuver - will be defined by our logistic capabilities and limitations. Hence, we are committed to exploring and implementing actions to increase combat power, operational versatility, and deployability. The concept of focused logistics in Joint Vision 2020 is guiding the Marine Corps as we strive to increase the sustained forward-deployed capability of our forces. Future force combat service support-and the Marine Corps logistics that enables it-will be changing as we shift more of our operations to the sea base. At the forefront of this effort is the Marine Corps Logistics Campaign Plan that outlines essential objectives and tasks based upon overarching Marine Corps, Naval, joint, and DoD concepts and guidance. Our strategy encompasses four pillars:

Logistics Information Fusion and C2. A key to current and emerging warfighting capabilities is a robust and responsive logistics information technology capability—one that is integrated with our command-and-control architecture and interoperable with Naval and joint systems. The Global Combat Support System - Marine Corps (GCSS-MC) and shared data environment, along with the Common Logistics Command and Control System, provide logisticians across the Marine Corps with a set of common logistics assessment, planning, and execution tools that are interoperable with the common operating picture.

Seamless Distribution. The single capability that defines Marine Forces in a joint environment is its ability to sustain itself over an extended period of time. The principal goal is to move from defining sustainment in terms of deployable “days of supply" to a continuous uninterrupted sustainment capability for the force. A key element in achieving this is integrating current distribution processes and systems into broader Naval and joint distribution processes. Achieving this capability will not only greatly enhance Naval operations, but will be transferable to the task of sustaining joint forces and operations.

Enhanced Equipment Readiness. The bulk of our logistics effort and associated "footprint" is driven by its equipment-support activities. The Marine Corps seeks to reduce the required level of

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