Should the Marines Rescue the EFV?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to eliminate the U.S. Marine Corps $15-million Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program. Designed for amphibious assault, the 80,000-pound armored tractor would skim the ocean's surface for long distances at high speeds before rolling onto land for combat operations. The EFV has been hampered by technological snafus, cost overruns, and development delays, however, with a fifth of its procurement budget already spent.

"If fully executed," Gates warned recently, the EFV "would essentially swallow the entire Marine vehicle budget and most of its total procurement budget for the foreseeable future". Although the Defense Secretary's decision does not alter the Marines' mission, critics worry that the Corps still lacks the amphibious tractor that it needs to avoid fixed defenses in ship-to-shore operations. Gates' solution involves upgrading the USMC's existing amphibious vehicle fleet with new engines, electronics, and armaments.

"The Corps will never be defined by a program, but rather by the capabilities we bring to the fight," explains Lt. General George Flynn, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC). But will the end of the EFV program impede the Marines' mission as America's ever-ready expeditionary force? Do the existing vehicles that Secretary Gates wants to upgrade provide adequate ship-to-shore movement, breakout from the beach, land mobility, and firepower?

Source: Defense Update