March 29, 201115 yr From DefenseNews [excerpt] Harrier Ops Making Case for F-35BU.S. Marines: Libya Missions Show STOVL Jets' Value By TOM KINGTON Published: 28 March 2011 ABOARD THE USS KEARSARGE - When U.S. naval strike jets hit targets in Libya in the predawn hours of March 20, they weren't flying from aircraft carriers. Instead, the U.S. Marine Corps' short-takeoff, vertical-landing AV-8B Harrier IIs did the job from this amphibious assault ship. And that, said the senior Marine commander aboard, shows why his service needs the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, the STOVL plane whose developmental problems have landed it under a two-year "probationary period" and made it a favored target of some budget-cutters.
March 29, 201115 yr This is not to knock the Harrier, which is an amazing plane that can fly a lot of missions off of a small flight deck. But it would not be flying missions over Libya now except that the Libyans have almost nothing left to shoot back at the aircraft. Maybe some AAA. No surprise that the Marine brass want to lobby for their version of the F-35. It has had a tortured development, with each service wanting to hang all of 'their' options off of the supposedly common airframe. What is the per-plane cost up to now?
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