Page 68 - F-35B and USMC

The Integration of the F-35B into USMC Operations

Posing the question in this way then drives a different way to think about those new platforms which might be
added to the force.

How can its organic capabilities enhance the capability of the force to provide for an integrated effect?

How can the platform contribute to the multiplier effect of its operation within the battlespace?

How can the force best survive and prevail and how do new platforms contribute to that effort?

How upgradeable is the platform with regard to the other key capabilities operating in the battlespace?

How can the central role of software upgradeability best be recognized and supported in building out an
information secure, decision dominant force?

How to measure cost effectiveness in an integrated battlespace world?

How do new approaches to sustainability built into 21st century systems get recognized as cutting edge ways
to have a more effective and sustainable force, rather than being audited to death by 20th century practices
and thinking?
The most expensive acquisition could well be one that is the cheapest up front in terms of initial price tag, but
is not an effective member of an integrated battlespace.

Such platforms might only contribute to a narrow function without any real capability to evolve with the forces
shaping a way ahead to reshape capabilities to achieve key effects in the evolving battlespace and within
that battlespace shaping an open-ended force integration process.

In short, the decade of innovation underway can lay the foundation for a new approach to platform
acquisition, which can get out of the platform centric ghetto that is so often the only lane in which
platforms are discussed, considered and bought.

Second Line of Defense

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