Semper Fly: Marines in Space

Mission Aftermath

The Marines are, historically, excellent at inserting themselves into trouble. It´s the getting out that´s hard. Retaining enough fuel for a brief regular-altitude flight to a nearby base or allied nation is one option. Lafontant and his fellow planners have proposed other methods of extraction. The lander might have enough fuel to fly all the way back home under its own power, or, if the vehicle is small enough, it might deploy a parachute and be snagged midair by a cargo aircraft. Finally, because it´s the speed of insertion, not the round trip, the extraction might require less urgency. The Marines and the landers could simply be retrieved by more conventional means.

At this point-in the aftermath-the diplomatic challenge might truly rear its head. Although getting over an altitude of 50 miles officially clears a nation´s sovereign airspace, exploiting this loophole is bound to cause political problems, something that is already being foreshadowed in the Bush administration´s new space policy, released in October, which declares the administration´s intention to exploit space for military purposes. Sustain doesn´t solve the diplomatic problems it creates-indeed, the project could simply cause countries to raise the upper limits of their air space-but it unquestionably redefines the notion of rapid insertion.

Whether or not Sustain ever
makes it past the concept stage, it´s clear that military planners are looking to increase the mobility of American forces. A Marine space transport-one that would reduce politically charged bureaucratic delays and the potential for mission snafus-might sound impossible, but to Lafontant and others entrusted with imagining the future of war, it is simply the next logical step.

Washington, D.C.â€based writer David Axe writes for Defense Technology International. His book about the ROTC, Army 101, was published in December.