4/15/2022
Navy, Marine Corps Modernize Aviation Amid Fiscal Pressures
By Mikayla Easley
Marine Corps photo
Facing high-end threats abroad and fiscal pressures at home, Navy and Marine Corps aviation forces are preparing for the next generation of warfare.
The sea services’ aviation components own a variety of capabilities essential to the Defense Department’s vision for future joint all domain operations — including the striking power of the Navy’s carrier air wings, as well as firepower and heavy lift for Marine Corps ground forces.
To ensure those capabilities can maintain an edge over U.S. adversaries in future strategic environments, the Navy is emphasizing new platforms that will allow the service to operate at longer ranges and faster speeds in the next 10 to 15 years, said Rear Adm. Shane Gahagan, program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs.
“The ranges that we need based on the threats that are out there — [which should] have kinetic and non-kinetic effects — are only increasing over the years. They’ve pushed naval aviation farther and farther out,” he said during a recent panel at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/4/15/navy-marine-corps-modernize-aviation-amid-fiscal-pressures
