As America's expeditionary force-in-readiness, the US Marine Corps
operates an eclectic mix of fixed-wing, rotary-wing, tiltrotor and
unmanned aircraft to support the marine rifleman on the ground. The
first two decades of the 21st century have seen an almost complete
transformation of the marine air wings, as Cold War-era legacy aircraft
yield to digital-age replacements. In Harpia's first book dedicated to a
North American air arm, Joe Copalman explains the significance of each
aircraft transition in the Marine Corps over the previous 20 years -
community by community - on the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and its
ability to conduct amphibious and expeditionary warfare.
While some of these transitions, like that of the KC-130T to KC-130J and
AH-1W to AH-1Z, have been incremental, evolutionary steps up, others
like the tandem-rotor CH-46 Sea Knight to the tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey and
the introduction of the F-35 Lightning II to replace all three of the
Marine Corps' tactical jets have revolutionized the way the service
fights. In addition to introducing newer, vastly more capable and
connected aircraft into its air wings, the Marine Corps has also
invested heavily in keeping its remaining legacy fleets at the cutting
edge of lethality and survivability throughout the final days of each
type's service.
Utilizing a before-and-after approach, Copalman guides the reader
through every transition in Modern USMC Air Power, examining what each
legacy aircraft brought to the fight, and how the service's newer
platforms have improved upon those capabilities, especially when aided
by new constructs like precision-guided ordnance and digital
interoperability.
