[queensnake]

> I've heard that the Marines actually have really good air support, because they have their own planes

Why can't the army buy the same planes, are they not being manufactured any more?

[bradleyjg]

The key west agreement: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West_Agreement

The army isn't allowed to have fixed wing aircraft with combat capabilities.

[chernevik]

Pilots are the hard problem. It's really hard to train them, and to incentivize people to manage them. The Marines can piggy-back on the Navy's aviation personnel infrastructure.

And again, the Marines are capped on scope creep by their placement in the Navy. The Army isn't, so if they got planes that would be much scarier for the Air Force than the Marines.

[philwelch]

The Marines use the F/A-18 Hornet and, for close air support in particular, the AV-8B Harrier. Both are slated for replacement by F-35 variants.

They also fly the AH-1 Cobra, which the Army already replaced with the Apache.

[mcv]

Is the Cobra still in service? I had no idea.

[philwelch]

Yes, with the Marine Corps, as well as Taiwan, Turkey, and Iran: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_AH-1_SuperCobra#Operators