Marine's Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle could get cut

[unhappycamper]

Marine's Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle could get cut
By GORDON LUBOLD | 9/30/10 4:37 AM EDT

The Marine Corps’s new amphibious assault vehicle is on the chopping block again — and this time it may not survive.

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates squeezing the Pentagon for budgetary cuts, administration officials, outside experts and even proponents of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle suspect that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has already decided to cut it — though Navy officials say there’s been no decision.

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The EFV, a General Dynamics Land Systems program, is the Marines’ top acquisition priority and would eat up a considerable amount of the small service’s acquisition dollars down the road.

Still, the Marines argue they need the new tracked vehicle — replacing the 40-year-old Amphibious Assault Vehicle, or AAV — to maintain their ability to conduct “forcible entry” from the sea. And that argument has fueled a larger debate about the future role of the Corps and its long-term capabilities.

Some military watchers believe the Marines see themselves still fighting battles they fought 60 years ago. Speaking at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition outside Washington in May, Gates wondered aloud how much the Corps needs the capability that the EFVs would provide.