Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
B.Smitty:
RE: Realistically Forward Basing, Logistics Costs, Maint Burden
Yes, the F-35B carries more fuel, but I think you’ll find that the AV-8 in combat scenarios will carry two ‘good sized’ wing tanks and/or touch a tanker far more often than an F-35B. I believe the Services, and the Marines in particular, did their homework well on the overall logistics footprint weight, volume and C-17 load equivalent KPPs. (Full disclosure: I played a VERY small part in developing the C-17 deployment load content prior to source selection). If the F-35B performs as expected, the maintenance on the -35 should be a fraction of the Harrier’s overhead. I work with a retired Marine who this time last year was in Afghanistan as the forward deployed LDO maintenance officer (there are only 13 of these billets in the Marine Corps and I come in regular contact with 4 former LDOs. I swear there are really only 20 Marines and they just move them around a lot – they all know each other.) managing the maintenance program for all the Harriers, Helos, and V-22s and he’s juiced about the F-35B coming into the fleet.
RE: Forward Field Resilience and King Abdul Aziz airstrip. I think you will find that the A-10s were at King Abdul Aziz Air Base and the ‘Air Strip’ the 3rd MAW used was at King Abdul Aziz Navy Base. The ‘Air Strip’ was an appropriate moniker: It was an old, abandoned airfield (built by US?) that is really about 8K ft long, but was crumbling and was in such bad shape that much of the runway was unusable. I’ve seen references to the field as being 2K, 4K ,6K ft usable length, and read a quote by a Harrier pilot that if it was peacetime, they never would have used it. I understand that the Marines are already working out what will be needed to forward-base similar to their King Abdul Aziz experience in a process similar to how the Navy does carrier integration.
I too am a fan of the Harrier. Aside from the stealth and systems limitations, it still represents the apex of the direct-thrust STOVL technical approach-- as you cannot generate more vertical lift without massive weight-penalty spirals AND even more hot gas ablation/impingement problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Marines came up with 2-3 techniques they could use to mitigate the exhaust of the B depending upon operational need. It is certainly NOT something they haven't thought about.
Aug 4, 2011, 12:22:19 AM
Posted to F35B Agitprop ala Sweetman