Defense News – The U.S. Marine Corps is expanding its vision of connectivity among aircraft and with ground units below, creating local networks to share situational awareness and targeting data even in communications-denied environments.
Category Archives: USMarines
Force Design 2030 Is Not All About The South China Sea
1945 – James Holmes writes: Repeat after me: “Force Design 2030” is not mainly about the South China Sea, no matter what General David Berger’s detractors say.
Marines Couldn’t Meet Request to Surge to Europe Due to Strain on Amphibious Fleet
USNI News – As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, the head of U.S. European Command asked for a Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Ready Group to deploy early to Europe as a hedge against the conflict expanding. But the Marine Corps couldn’t meet the request.
U.S. Army Japan’s LCU Vessel Masters Discuss U.S. Navy LAW
Navy News – The U.S. Navy’s upcoming Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) is one of the top acquisition priorities for the U.S. Marine Corps in their strategy to counter China’s Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) in the Indian Pacific Command (INDO-PACOM) region. The LAW is meant to patrol the INDO-PACOM region, transporting around 75 U.S. Marines and their vehicles and equipment for about a 30-day tour as part of Force Design 2030, the U.S. Marine Corps’ Commandant General David Berger’s concept strategy of utilizing lighter, faster, more mobile and deployable assets in the Asian Pacific Rim to counter peer nations’ vast arsenal of tactical ballistic, cruise, supersonic, and hypersonic (Anti-Ship) missiles. The LAW is still in the preliminary design stages, but the U.S. Army has ample experience transporting heavy armored tracked fighting vehicles and tactical trucks around the INDO-PACOM region using their own large Landing Craft Utility (LCU) ships.
This Is What It Takes For An MV-22 To Fly Halfway Across The Pacific
War Zone – The vast Pacific gives even the Marines’ long-range vertical-takeoff-and-landing phenom, the MV-22 Osprey, a major logistics workout.
Navy, Marines integrating expeditionary forces into traditional amphibious operations
Defense News – The expeditionary warfare community is eyeing ways to use all its forces in future operations, with fleet experiments looping special operations forces, mine countermeasures sailors, Seabees and more into traditional naval operations.
Stay The Course On Reinventing The US Marine Corps To Fight China
1945 – James Holmes reviews the commentary currently on offer against the Marine Corps reorganization plans and see whether they land any haymakers.
On Future Wars and the Marine Corps: Asking the Right Questions
War on the Rocks – A professional discourse on innovation, warfighting, and roles and missions is warranted to ensure the Marine Corps remains “ready to fight.” To wait until consensus or clarity, though, is to impose paralysis on innovation and adaptation. Iterating on ideas while simultaneously taking near-term action is the right approach. Given the national defense strategy, Berger is headed in the right direction, but there are important questions, as identified here, still needing answers.
Littoral Combat Teams Need Light Infantry, Not Less
USNI Proceedings – Current proposals for littoral combat teams stretch too few people too thin.
The Marine Corps and the Naval Campaign: The Necessary Context of Debate
War on the Rocks – For the Marine Corps to fulfill its core purpose, it needs to anticipate and respond to the future battlefield’s challenges and ensure that it can be a critical and decisive component of a modern naval campaign. It may be true that the Marine Corps is still here precisely because of its ability to radically reshape itself to meet the emerging demands of warfare. Change, however, is never an easy process, and criticisms surrounding the Marine Corps’ current initiatives are not a radical departure from historical resistance to change within the service.
Navy and Marines Divided Over the Amphibious Fleet’s Future as Delays and Cancellations Mount in FY 2023 Budget Request
USNI News – After years of working together on naval integration, there is a growing split between the Navy and Marine Corps, showing how the services have come to an impasse over the future of the amphibious fleet.
Stand-in Forces: Adapt or Perish
USNI Proceedings – Small, mobile, and lethal, Marine Corps stand-in forces will be ready to deploy on short notice to disrupt an adversary’s plans at every point.
Insights For Marine (And Beyond) Force Design From the Russo-Ukrainian War
War on the Rocks – While it is too soon to reach any definitive lessons learned from the ongoing war in Ukraine, some immediate insights can inform ongoing U.S. and NATO military force design and defense investment priorities.
Marines To Test Lightning Carrier Concept With 20 F-35Bs Aboard USS Tripoli This April
War Zone – Early this coming April, United States Marine Corps F-35Bs from three squadrons will converge aboard the USS Tripoli (LHD-7) to fully test the ‘Lightning Carrier’ concept. The idea to basically turn big-deck “Gator Navy” amphibious assault ships into light aircraft carriers packed with F-35Bs first emerged five years ago, but it has its roots in AV-8 Harrier operations going back decades. A whopping 20 F-35Bs will be conducting sustained operations followed by surge operations from the USS Tripoli. The event will test the ability of the Marines to operate two full F-35B squadrons from one ship at one time and could have major impacts on what the stealthy jets, and the ships they deploy on, can bring to the fight in the future.
General Anthony Zinni on Staying Honest With the Troops and Translating Experience
CIMSEC – This is the third part of our conversation series with General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.) on leadership, strategy, learning, and the art and science of warfighting.
Marines Look to Redefine Naval Warfighting as ACV Testing Continues
USNI News – The Marine Corps’ plan to resume waterborne operations with Navy ships takes a big step when assault combat vehicle crews and infantry Marines team up for the next stage of return-to-water training.
Standup of Marine littoral regiment will usher new gear into Pacific theater
Defense News – The U.S. Marine Corps this week will officially stand up its first Marine littoral regiment, a linchpin of its plans to conduct small-unit expeditionary advanced base operations and to move high-end gear into and throughout the Pacific.
Navy, Marines Drill with Japanese Forces in Test of New Island-Hopping Concept
USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and Japanese Self-Defense Force teamed up in the Philippine and East China seas to test the ideas behind the Marines’ Force Design 2030 plan.
The US Navy and Marine Corps should acquire Army watercraft
Defense News – The Navy and Marine Corps should delay any new construction and immediately acquire some of the Army’s existing vessels to drive experimentation and better inform their requirements for the light amphibious warship program.
With blade issues resolved, Navy seeking four Ship to Shore Connectors a year
Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s program office for amphibious connectors is confident it can get its Ship to Shore Connector production line up to the desired four-a-year delivery rate in 2022 — despite past technical problems that led to production line slowdowns.
Amphib ship requirements study could spell bad news for Marines, industry
Defense News – A study on amphibious warship requirements that will help inform upcoming budgets is looking less likely to yield the results the U.S. Marine Corps wants.
Marine ACVs Team with Japanese AAVs at Sea in Iron Fist Exercise
USNI News – About 200 soldiers with the JGSDF’s 2nd Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment are training with I Marine Expeditionary Force and Amphibious Squadron 5 for the bilateral exercise that began in 2006.
The Seventh Cornerstone of Naval Operations
Marine Corps Gazette – James Holmes reminds us that the home team has the advantage
The US Military Needs To Avoid A Linear Approach In A War With China
1945 – James Holmes says that the US Marines are right to downplay fixed facilities and defenses as a warfighting implement.
USMC NMESIS And Naval Strike Missiles Logistics Explained
Naval News – In order to cover the “tyranny of distance” problem of hundreds to thousands of miles from the objective(s), attacking nations will require a naval force for amphibious assault. Thus, the USMC is developing Land-based Anti-ship Missile units centered on the 6×6 HIMARS, the Tactical Maritime Tomahawk missile, and the 4×4 JLTV.
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