EFV Plea

In a bid to preempt a Pentagon decision to terminate the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program, a $15.5 billion program widely believed to be on the chopping block in the fiscal year 2012 budget review, Virginia's two senators today asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to permit the EFV program to complete development and testing before its fate is decided.

The letter from Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner, both Democrats, reads:

We write today to urge you to allow the Marine Corps to complete development and testing of its Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) before deciding on the future of this important acquisition program.  Reliability testing at Camp Pendleton and the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground will be completed late this year or in early 2011.  The Marine Corps will be in a much better position to confirm if the EFV satisfies its performance requirements when this testing is completed.  Early indicators are said to be positive in most categories.

The EFV, the Marine Corps' highest acquisition priority, is designed to replace the 40-year old Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV).  A replacement for the antiquated AAV is a key enabler for the Marine Corps to perform one of its important roles as a multi-mission force in readiness. This month’s 60th anniversary of the Incheon landing during the Korean War reminds us that the locations and types of future Marine Corps operations cannot be predicted.  As General Amos noted during his recent confirmation hearing, amphibious forces have responded to crises at least 104 times in the past 20 years—more than double the rate experienced during the Cold War.

If current testing is completed satisfactorily, the EFV will fill a critical gap in providing the Marine Corps with an assured access capability from the sea during opposed and lower-risk operations.  Designed to achieve water speeds in excess of 25 knots and land speeds of up to 45 mph, the highly armored and well-armed EFV will provide the Navy’s amphibious ships the maneuver space and stand-off distance needed to counter anti-access weapons more effectively.

General Conway and many other Marine Corps leaders have repeatedly validated the Marine Corps’ requirement for the EFV.   We recognize that the EFV program has had a long and checkered history.  In the final analysis, it must satisfy affordability and performance requirements.  The results of this autumn’s testing should allow us to make a more informed assessment of the program’s ability to satisfy those goals, so we ask that you defer any final decision on the EFV’s future at this time.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has openly questioned the need for the EFV program, most recently in May, asking "what kind of new platform is needed to get large numbers of troops from ship to shore under fire?"

"We have to take a hard look at where it would be necessary or sensible to launch another major amphibious landing again -- especially as advances in anti-ship systems keep pushing the potential launch point further from shore," Gates said May 3 in an address to the Navy League. "On a more basic level, in the 21st century, what kind of amphibious capability do we really need to deal with the most likely scenarios, and then how much?"

Gates has openly questioned the need for the EFV program, asking in May, "what kind of new platform is needed to get large numbers of troops from ship to shore under fire?"

"We have to take a hard look at where it would be necessary or sensible to launch another major amphibious landing again -- especially as advances in anti-ship systems keep pushing the potential launch point further from shore," Gates said May 3 in an address to the Navy League. "On a more basic level, in the 21st century, what kind of amphibious capability do we really need to deal with the most likely scenarios, and then how much?"