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  • Originally posted by JCT View Post
    You end up going in very very light by helo, basically with what you have on your back. Yes, the helos can supply beans, bullets and bandaids, but you're not getting the heavy stuff needed to defend an air-head from a determined opponent. No heavy armor, limited arty, very few vehicles. Once on the deck you are pretty much limited to being foot mobile and any extras that the helos bring in just makes you that much slower. You can reposition forces via helo, but that's slow and takes away from logistics and the build-up of the air-head.

    All the heavy stuff comes in over the beach and a MEU(SOC) has a lot of vehicles - the USMC is a lot heavier than we like to advertise. I did a float on the old LHA-1 TARAWA and we had a LOT of vehicles in her holds. On board we had the Battalion helo company and the arty battery. I believe the rest of the embarked Marines were the MEU command and logistics elements. It took awhile to move everything ashore over the beach. I'd be curious to see what MEU elements LHA-6 holds and what has to be left in CONUS if there is not enough room for all the rolling stock.

    If you want an aviation ship, call it a light attack carrier and be done with it. Taking up two precious amphib platform slots just further erodes our ability to accomplish the amphibious assault mission.
    I am asking not arguing...

    I was under the not impression (not very well informed on this subject) that the M777 Lightweight 155mm Howitzer, and the EFSS Expeditionary Fire Support System built around the M327 120mm Rifled Towed Mortar, were developed in response to the need for fire support that would be moved by helicopter from ship to objective, and likewise an ability to reposition by helicopter relatively quickly. Has that not been as usable/workable in practice as it was in theory? Not enough helicopter assets to support that, or is it something else?
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    • That is the theory and I'm sure that they practice flying in the M777, at one point in time arty raids via helos were doctrine (and could still be...I'm not as up to date as I used to be.) Back in Desert Storm they did conduct CH53/M198 helo raids against the Iraqis and that was a much heavier gun. However 155mm arty rounds are heavy and it would take a lot of flights to build up a decent stockpile. Same goes for the EFSS which seems to be a real nice piece of kit, but I haven't had the pleasure of watching one shoot. (Well, I haven't seen a M777 shoot either, but for one glorious afternoon I did get to work on an M198 gun line. That was a looong time ago.)

      You can use helos to bring some of this and some of that, but not the mass of heavy material you bring in over the beach. They're good for getting in the initial force, placing them in blocking positions around the beach head, but they're not so good for sustainment. They guzzle too much JP5, require too much maintenance, and are fragile.

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      • Video: perspectives of the F-35B by the test pilots and crew members of USS America.
        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vJoBE0...ature=youtu.be

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        • America ARG departs for first deployment.
          https://news.usni.org/2017/07/10/ame...centric-amphib

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          • Will she have F-35's embarked?

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            • Originally posted by DonBelt View Post
              Will she have F-35's embarked?
              Not this time. Harriers.

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              • Originally posted by DonBelt View Post
                Will she have F-35's embarked?
                Probably be a couple years before that happens.
                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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                • America at sea with at least 13 F-35B’s.
                  https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...mbarked-aboard

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                  • One thing I like about these ships... is their names.

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                    • Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
                      One thing I like about these ships... is their names.
                      Indeed. Not a single LHA/LHD has fallen prey to a shitty politician's name.

                      The LPDs came so soooo close. But, I guess there's only so much you ask these days.

                      At least the other city name deviation was an inspired choice: A USN LCS(L) skipper from WWII, holder of the Medal of Honor.
                      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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