Posted on 09/17/2012 9:40:42 AM PDT by Daus
Marine Attack Squadron loses eight Harrier jets in worst U.S. air loss in one day since the Vietnam War
On Friday Sept. 14, at around 10.15 p.m. local time, a force of Taliban gunmen attacked Camp Bastion, in Helmand Province, the main strategic base in southwestern Afghanistan.
About 15 insurgents (19 according to some reports), wearing U.S. Army uniforms, organized into three teams, breached the perimeter fence and launched an assault on the airfield, that includes the U.S. Camp Leatherneck and the UK’s Camp Bastion, where British royal Prince Harry, an AH-64 Apache pilot (initially believed to be the main target of the attack) is stationed.
The attackers fired machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and possibly mortars against aircraft parked next to the airport’s runway. Two U.S. Marines were killed in the subsequent fighting whereas eight of 10 AV-8B+ Harrier jets of the Yuma-based Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 211 were destroyed (6) or heavily damaged (2): the worst U.S. air loss in one day since the Vietnam War.
The VMA-211 “Avengers” is part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered in San Diego at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. It deployed to Afghanistan in April and relocated from Kandahar Airfield to Camp Bastion on Jul. 1.
According to Wikipedia, the VMA-211 last suffered this level of losses on Dec. 8, 1941.
Considered that the U.S. Marine Corps are believed to be equipped with slightly more than 120 AV-8B+, the attack on Camp Bastion has wiped out 1/15th of the entire U.S. Jump Jet fleet and a large slice of the Yuma-based squadron. A serious problem for the USMC, that was compelled to buy second hand RAF Harrier GR9s to keep the AV-8B+ in service beyond 2030, when it will be replaced by the F-35B.
Furthermore, the VMA-211 was the only Marine Harrier unit in Afghanistan: until the destroyed airframes will be replaced (most probably, by another Squadron), the coalition ground forces can’t count on the CAS (Close Air Support) provided by the Harrier.
Tom Meyer has contributed to this post.
Image credit: U.S. Marine Corps
They received a general but very prompt apology from the White House.
Title of coverage? Maybe:
Worst one day planes loss since Vietnam.
I’m a little surprised those Harriers weren’t parked in hardened aircraft shelters for overhead protection (mortors) although useless from an RPG at the doorway.
In a combat zone why weren’t these planes protected by revetments? You can’t tell from the pictures, but it appears that the temporary hangars shown are not concrete.
I seem to recall that lining up planes without protection was a problem at Pear Harbor, over 50 years ago.
Never underestimate your enemy’s capacity to achieve tactical successes.
Ahem. VMA-211 is properly named the “Wake Island Avengers”
Well, might as well roto-rooter more of the problem....Panetta needs to be dismissed.
Oh, and regarding 1/15th of the USMC Harrier force being wiped out, the Marines just bought the ENTIRE RAF Harrier GR.9 fleet (except for two that went to museums). That’s 70+ aircraft, engines and spares, for less than $200 million total. While most are destined for storage and parts reclaimation, the Marines do plan to put some back into service as attrition replacements. So they’ll now need to pull another 6-8 from Davis Monthan.
wonder how such valuable US assets were so carelessly stored?
Who approved that? Some lisping generallette?
So, at US$24–30 million apiece that’s 192-240 million somebody owes us. Who should we send the bill to?
(And by bill I mean ass-kicking.)
Posting without reading.
The DLEMM - Dominant Liberal Establishment Mass Media - is not mainstream. Referring to the DLEMM as mainstream means you're willingly drinking their kool-aid
Were the guards allowed to have ammunition at this base? I hope the base commander is relieved of duty.
I heard about the loss of “two [more] Marines,” but had not heard this was within the Harrier community. OMG, will be saying more prayers with extra heart. Damn it. Were the two Marines pilots or Marines assigned to 211, or assigned elsewhere?
SsOBs. Damn it.
Can’t believe those old a/c are still flying. I swear, Marines could teach MacGyver a thing or two.
There were reported to be 12 or 18 in US Army uniforms. All but one were whacked. The one survivor is in captivity.
This calls for nukes. If you don't make them fear you, they will continue to do sh*t like this.
Nope. 30’ outer fence with triple concertina wire. Center section with 6’ tall bails of more concertina wire Inner “blast wall” that stretches around all 26 miles of perimeter apparently. Motion sensors and cameras too apparently.
We were passed today on the interstate by a truck carrying something from D-M. It was not a Harrier. Hubby did a triple-take but did not comment. I immediately thought of these destroyed Harriers. :(
I didn't think about that, but it appears from a link on this posting that they blasted through the fence before they started shooting their mortars
Don't know the duties of the two KIAs yet. I'm assuming they were maintenance/ground crew in the proximity of the destroyed planes.
Later this year, Yuma will get the first F-35Bs. These are long overdue replacements for the tired Harriers.
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