Cost Effectiveness, the Marine Way

In the recent debate over the F-22, it was disconcerting to find out that it may require nearly 24 hours of maintenance for every hour it flies.  At over $150 million a plane, not including maintenance, one wonders how effective they would be in a real war. Air superiority? For an hour a day, sure. What do we do for the other 23.

Next, via Small Wars Journal we have BigDog.  Key quotes……

“BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics robots. It is a rough-terrain robot that walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by an engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog has four legs that are articulated like an animal’s, with compliant elements to absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule; about 3 feet long, 2.5 feet tall and weighs 240 lbs.
BigDog’s on-board computer controls locomotion, servos the legs and handles a variety of sensors. BigDog’s control system keeps it balanced, navigates, and regulates its energetics as conditions vary. Sensors for locomotion include joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a gyroscope, LIDAR and a stereo vision system. Other sensors focus on the internal state of BigDog, monitoring the hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine functions, battery charge and others.
In separate tests BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, climbs a muddy hiking trail, walks in snow and water, and carries a 340 lb load. BigDog set a world’s record for legged vehicles by traveling 12.8 miles without stopping or refueling.”

Heaven knows, our troops in Afghanistan need help moving all their gear around in those mountains. A vehicle that can carry some of the load across that mountainous territory would be invaluable. It might be wroth the price tag. OTOH, remember the NASA space pen? Cost thousands to develop so it could write in zero gravity. Yup, that pen. The Russians, on a much tighter budget came up with a writing solution for zero-grav, the pencil.

The Marines, also being a budget conscious group, have come up with their own low cost option pictured below. Key quote from this article (please note the price tag on this baby) at the LA Times.

“The animal packers course dates to the 1980s, when the CIA sent operatives here before they were dispatched to help the Afghans fight the Soviet occupation force. The agency bought several thousand mules for the Afghans to maintain supply lines.

When they reach Afghanistan, the Marines probably will work with donkeys, which are cheaper and more common. A good donkey can be had there for $5.”

I sat on the sofa quietly chuckling to myself for quite a bit while reading this one. My grandfather had a mule. The thought of some kid from Staten Island dealing with a mule for the first time just cracked me up. I wish him, and all the rest, the best of luck. On the plus side, should he ever decide to become a Marine DI, handling mules will have taught him most of the social skills needed for the job.