bobdina
05-26-2009, 03:39 AM
EFV draws fire from critics, rolls forward
By Dan Lamothe - dlamothe@militarytimes.com
Posted : Monday May 25, 2009 11:39:25 EDT
Opening up with 7.62mm machine gun fire and its 30mm Mk 46 weapon system, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle pummeled ancient tanks downrange, an explosion ripping through the air as each round found its mark.
It was the most attention-getting of a series of EFV demonstrations conducted in May at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., as program officials displayed the vehicle’s amphibious capabilities for Pentagon officials, reporters and more than 100 employees with industry partner General Dynamics.
The day came on the heels of similar showings earlier in the month, where Marine officials, Defense Department leaders and members of Congress have viewed the EFV as part of the effort to drum up support for funding the program.
A target for critics who want tighter defense spending, the EFV survived a recent round of budget cuts at the Pentagon but was referred by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, a Pentagon study that examines strategic priorities every four years.
Marine officials said seven new prototypes will begin rolling off the assembly line this fall at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio. The manufacturing was approved after the EFV passed a critical design review in December — three years after the vehicle had an embarrassing series of failures during milestone testing that highlighted the program’s skyrocketing costs.
The complete cost of the program has jumped from about $8.4 billion in 2000 to about $13 billion this year, although the number of vehicles to be purchased was slashed almost in half, from 1,013 to 573.
Col. Keith Moore, EFV program manager, said the new prototypes will incorporate a variety of improvements to the existing models, which can travel up to 45 mph on land and 30 mph on water while carrying armor and weapons.
“Given [the success at the design review] and the current advanced testing that we have been conducting on various components, we are extremely confident that the next generation of amphibious vehicles will provide the country and the Marine Corps the capability it will need to conduct joint force entry operations,” Moore said. “EFVs are specifically suited to maneuver operations from the sea and sustained operations ashore, and they have been certified to Congress as essential to national security.”
At Quantico, Marines from the infantry platoon of Combat Instructor Company, The Basic School, demonstrated the vehicle, with nearly two squads of Marines disembarking from it after the vehicle roared over hilly terrain on a secluded range.
Although the personnel carrier variant of the EFV carries 17 combat-ready Marines, it packs them in tight, the Marines said. Unlike its predecessor, the Amphibious Assault Vehicle, the EFV has a large compartment in the back that dominates the center of the vehicle and houses the turret basket, separating an aisle of seats that runs along each side wall.
Sgt. David Holt, a TBS combat instructor who deployed to Iraq three times with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., said Marines will be able to get in and out of the vehicle effectively despite the close quarters, which require Marines to disembark one at a time.
“It’s tight, but it’s not the Humvee, which is close quarters at its finest,” he said.
As summer progresses, the existing EFV prototypes will be split among the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; and Camp Lejeune, N.C. They will undergo blast testing at Aberdeen and riverine and gunnery tests at Lejeune, officials said.
By Dan Lamothe - dlamothe@militarytimes.com
Posted : Monday May 25, 2009 11:39:25 EDT
Opening up with 7.62mm machine gun fire and its 30mm Mk 46 weapon system, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle pummeled ancient tanks downrange, an explosion ripping through the air as each round found its mark.
It was the most attention-getting of a series of EFV demonstrations conducted in May at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., as program officials displayed the vehicle’s amphibious capabilities for Pentagon officials, reporters and more than 100 employees with industry partner General Dynamics.
The day came on the heels of similar showings earlier in the month, where Marine officials, Defense Department leaders and members of Congress have viewed the EFV as part of the effort to drum up support for funding the program.
A target for critics who want tighter defense spending, the EFV survived a recent round of budget cuts at the Pentagon but was referred by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, a Pentagon study that examines strategic priorities every four years.
Marine officials said seven new prototypes will begin rolling off the assembly line this fall at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio. The manufacturing was approved after the EFV passed a critical design review in December — three years after the vehicle had an embarrassing series of failures during milestone testing that highlighted the program’s skyrocketing costs.
The complete cost of the program has jumped from about $8.4 billion in 2000 to about $13 billion this year, although the number of vehicles to be purchased was slashed almost in half, from 1,013 to 573.
Col. Keith Moore, EFV program manager, said the new prototypes will incorporate a variety of improvements to the existing models, which can travel up to 45 mph on land and 30 mph on water while carrying armor and weapons.
“Given [the success at the design review] and the current advanced testing that we have been conducting on various components, we are extremely confident that the next generation of amphibious vehicles will provide the country and the Marine Corps the capability it will need to conduct joint force entry operations,” Moore said. “EFVs are specifically suited to maneuver operations from the sea and sustained operations ashore, and they have been certified to Congress as essential to national security.”
At Quantico, Marines from the infantry platoon of Combat Instructor Company, The Basic School, demonstrated the vehicle, with nearly two squads of Marines disembarking from it after the vehicle roared over hilly terrain on a secluded range.
Although the personnel carrier variant of the EFV carries 17 combat-ready Marines, it packs them in tight, the Marines said. Unlike its predecessor, the Amphibious Assault Vehicle, the EFV has a large compartment in the back that dominates the center of the vehicle and houses the turret basket, separating an aisle of seats that runs along each side wall.
Sgt. David Holt, a TBS combat instructor who deployed to Iraq three times with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., said Marines will be able to get in and out of the vehicle effectively despite the close quarters, which require Marines to disembark one at a time.
“It’s tight, but it’s not the Humvee, which is close quarters at its finest,” he said.
As summer progresses, the existing EFV prototypes will be split among the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; and Camp Lejeune, N.C. They will undergo blast testing at Aberdeen and riverine and gunnery tests at Lejeune, officials said.