USMC IS Harriers Will This Preclude F35Bs?

Apparently the Marines are saying screw it and keeping their Harriers until the F35Bs make it to service:www.strategypage.com...

Could this be a way to stop the F35B from being fielded due to constant cost overruns?

From what I understand of Harriers and why the UK got rid of them is that they are very quickly become outdated.

I may be wrong but they seem pretty obsolete for anything but ground attack missions. The airframe is old and there is just so much you can do with refits. It wont have any new stealth capabilitys which are becomeing the new defence.

For bombing insurgents which have little more than IED and AK's to fire back it does the job fine but for anything more you will have problems.

Thats my understanding anyway.

For the record I did get Stutter finger on the title of this thread,I'm afraid I must now cut it of and replace it with a metal shaft.

Originally posted by cavtrooper7
Apparently the Marines are saying screw it and keeping their Harriers until the F35Bs make it to service:www.strategypage.com...

Could this be a way to stop the F35B from being fielded due to constant cost overruns?

The Marines do not have a choice the F35Bs are not ready so they have to extend the life of the Harriers another 3 years. It is not like the want to keep them they just do not have another option.

If the price tag keeps rising they might be doing that for a while.

Look how long the Marines kept the Cobra's in service long after everyone else retired them. This doesn't surprise me.

We are Marines, we do the impossible, with nothing, if needed.



It's just our Credo

It not like for the next couple of years the marine core will be doing anything other than squashing insurgents which a harrier will still do well at.

It is if this lasts longer than a couple of years or the USA politicians do some really really dumb (As they seem to like doing) and start a war with North Korea/Iran/Syria/China.

reply to post by cavtrooper7


The Marine F-35B IOC is July-December 2015. Keep in mind this is only the initial operating capabilities, which, while it does include CAS (the primary role for the Harrier), it only uses the Block 2B software, not the Block 3F software that will allow it to be declared fully operational. The Block 3F won't come in until AT LEAST 2018, and that's if everything goes according to plan.

reply to post by Carreau


The AH-1W Super Cobra is still a potent gunship compared to many others out there. And the Marines are far from the only users of the Cobra still. Bahrain, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey all use them, as well as the US Army and Marines.

And I gotta say, the Forestry Service is getting serious about hunting down people that start forest fires.

reply to post by Zaphod58


The US Army retired the AH-1 from active duty units in 1999 and from reserve units in 2001. Only the Marines in US military still use the Cobra which was my point.

reply to post by Carreau


Regardless of if they're still using it, the AH-1W and AH-1Z are head and shoulders over the older AH-1s. It's like with any other aircraft, where the subsequent versions surpass the originals by far.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Glad to see the Cobra being repurposed. It may be old, but I think it would do quite well in that field. Maybe the Border Patrol should look into something like that as well. (Not armed mind you). Plenty of parts at Davis Montham to keep 'em flying for decades.

AH-1's are still in use by Iran, Taiwan and Turkey as well as the USMC - and the USMC is going to replace it's AH-1W's with AH-1Z's, so the type is going to be around for a while yet!

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Carreau

 

And I gotta say, the Forestry Service is getting serious about hunting down people that start forest fires.

Thats because of FAA rules & regulations Otherwise Drones are ideal for monitoring.
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USFS_Drone_Flights_ZIP_File