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Marines Want Space Plane
By John
Is a Space Ship One type space craft destined for military purposes? According to the Marines, aye-sir! Military.com's David Axe writes:
Unlike the Air Force, Navy and Army, all three of which sponsor expensive satellite programs, the cash-strapped Marines are pushing just one space concept. It's called Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion, or SUSTAIN, and it's a reusable spaceplane meant to get a squad of Marines to any hotspot on Earth in two hours -- then get them out. The idea is to reinforce embattled embassies, take out terrorist leaders or defuse hostage situations before it's too late. "The Marine Corps needs [this] capability," Brig. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer told Congress in 2004.
Artist's sketch of SUSTAIN insertion vehicle
The space insertion project, dubbed Hot Eagle, seems a bit far-fetched. Despite the obvious technological obstacles, military and defense contracting officials say that developing a craft that would accomplish the SUSTAIN mission is feasible. According to The Space Review, planners are following:
...a time frame in mind that more or less conforms to historical experience.
In his July 2003 statement to the Senate Subcommittee of Science, Technology and Space, Marine Corps Brigadier General Richard Zilmer said that “this challenging requirement is projected for initial operating capability (IOC) between 2025 and 2030.” That is, about 32 to 37 years after the first flight of the DC-X, which is the true precursor of the entire RLV idea. If one adds ten years, due to the usual delays inherent in any program of this sort, one gets near the half century that it seems to take to bring any revolutionary new major aerospace system into full service.A realistic IOC date for SUSTAIN would thus be between 2035 and 2045. From the present until then, one can expect that the problems of materials, flight controls, and propulsion that now doom any near-term RLV effort will be solved. Just as similar problems on the V-22 were taken care of by advances in computer technology and engine design, a small-scale but long-term effort to take advantage of future technological progress could realistically lead to a decision to go ahead with the development of a SUSTAIN-type vehicle sometime around 2020.
Marine Corps Colonel Jack Wassink compares the project to the development of jet fighters at the end of the second World War.
"Think about how fast aviation developed. By the end of World War II, you're flying jet aircraft as opposed to propeller planes. That's just 20 years.""It's realistic," Wassink says of SUSTAIN. "And I'm excited about it."
This reminds me of Darpa's Copper Canyon project, only realistic. Of course, it also reminds me of something else...
Join the Mobile Infantry and Save the World!
In all seriousness, think of what this technology could have done for say...the capture of Osama Bin Laden? Global Strike folks, get familiar with the term...because it's the future of the US military.
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Comments
I want to be the door gunner on this thing.
If we're talking about the Mobile Infantry in the book, not a chance. The powered armor those guys come with... and shoulder-fired nuclear weapons.
Still, that thing doesn't look very re-usable. The wings... what kind of lift is that going to generate?
Don't worry 'bout lift... it's a lifting body. Wings not actually essential. They've been building lifting body aircraft since the fifties.
Yeah, that's a rocket, not a plane. What Marine wouldn't want to ride a rocket into battle?
"seems a bit far-fetched"
A BIT?!?!?
Geez, guys. This is loony sort o' crap I cover on Murdoc. (You gotta set your sights a bit higher.)
I'll gladly eat my words, but let's see if the V-22 Osprey works in the real world before we start with the space planes...
The SciFi model for this one is NOT Heinlien's Starship Troopers "drop ship". (Read the book - it's not the same as the treatment in the movie.) A much closer approximation is the "assault shuttle" used by the space marines in David Weber's "Honorverse" series.
Well I don’t think I will be ever seeing this thing put to use anytime soon...
BUT my son will probably be putting these babies to good use in our stellar war with China on the moon for H-3 and the asteroid belt for raw materials and claim for hollowed out Asteroid space stations with the agro-domes on the surface for food supplies living quarters inside protected by the crust from radiation and micro meteorites.
For now it’s the V-22. I can’t wait for the 4engine version that can tote a FCS. The day when the go comes down and an entire battalion takes off from the States, fly’s non-stop refueling along the way landing right outside city X from thin air with the Navy support ships arriving days later to sustain and reinforce the force. Meanwhile Tin Horn Dictator X is trying to figure out how less than 24hrs after his f*ck up did the US take his capitol and him out.
OOH RAH Marines in space. I knew it was only a matter of time before we took that over.
That is pretty sweet. I could only imagine watching as a huge ship landed from space with Marines on board. The terrorists would crap themselves.
Ok, I'll concede that this thing could be launched with marines and safely land anywhere on earth in a couple of hours, but please tell me how its going to return them?
Also, will it land vertically like the experimental Delta Clipper did or will it simply be able to go anywhere in the world in two hours as long as there's a 10,000 ft runway?
It might be more practical to fill this thing with some JDAM's (even just cememt filled ones) with heat shields and drop them from 200K - 300K ft altitude. A precision guided piece of cement dropped from 200,000 ft would probably make quite a statement. You could probably launch it early on in a crisis and keep it in space until needed.
Cool! Get the Marines in there faster!
"Achmed! The Marines are falling from the Stars!"
"Good! Allah be praised!"
"Achmed, they are armed!"
-End Transmission!-
Don't forget the ISSAPC / ISSCV concepts in Space: Above & Beyond.
Very impressive VTOL drop off pick up vehicles designed much along the lines of the Ericson Sky Cranes used for firefighting.
Great; now, on top of dealing with seasick 'Rines from the Midwest on AAV-7's, now we'll have drop-sick pongoes from all over on SUSTAINs! And who, pray tell, will be responsible for clean up of the mess? That's right, the crewchief! (grumble, grumble)
As for similarities, how about MacDonald's Heritage series?
Hey! What are USAF markings doing on there?!?
-mike the pedantic civilian
In the 80s I was running design simulations on SSTO (single stage to orbit) and came up with a way to do this in a very cheap, low tech way. It could happen a lot sooner than this scenario. If you have a contact for Col Wassink I will brief him on the design.
Karlikurod4
Surgeons repair Schwarzenegger's broken femur..
Why Battle of the Consoles was more..
I dont see why getting the marines out once they've landed would be so difficult. Yeah they'll probably run out of fuel, but why not just send an unmanned, GPS-guided missile after them that's loaded with enough fuel to get the ship out of there? If the craft is VTOL-capable then it shouldn't be a problem.
While it wouldn't help with the extraction, think about this. Halo 2, the ODST's, and their Drop Pods. We go in, beat the crap out of stuff, then wait until someone comes to get us.
Oorah!
Sorry guys,
Just as the Air Force flies the Army (and anyone else) to a hotspot, and as the USAF has jurisdiction in space (e.g. 2 years ago the Navy handed over most of its sattelite systems the the USAF Space Command), the Air Force is developing orbital planes, so it WOULD be a USAF plane that would deliver Marines, or Army SF to a hot spot.
No brag, no SciFi plots, just facts
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Actually, sir, it's more like Aliens. Those Marines would trash the Mobile Infantry any time or place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Colonial_Marines
"All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the corps! "