deputy commandant for combat development and integration Archives

Marines Look Beyond LAVs as Recon Roles Expand

21 May 2022

Sgt. David Seeley, a squad leader with Battalion Landing Team 3/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and a native of Dunwoody, Georgia, walks past a light armored vehicle (LAV) at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan on Feb. 8, 2021. Marine Corps Photo

Marines are rethinking how the service does reconnaissance beyond its traditional light armored vehicles as part of the ongoing Force Design 2030 effort, officials said last week.

With more unmanned systems on the market and the Pentagon continuing a...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/20/marines-look-beyond-lavs-as-recon-roles-expand

Marines Look to EPFs, ESBs as Interim Solution for Light Amphibious Warship

11 May 2022

Expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) departs Naval Base Guam, passing the MSC expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) and marking the start of Pacific Partnership 2019. Navy photo

WASHINGTON D.C. — With the Light Amphibious Warship delayed by several years, the Marine Corps is looking to ship classes already in the fleet as an interim solution to move Marines around the Indo-Pacific.

The Marine Corps’ annual Force Design 2030 update, released on Monday,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/10/marines-look-to-epfs-esbs-as-interim-solution-for-light-amphibious-warship

Fewer Marines, More Sensors Part of Berger’s Latest Force Design Revision

10 May 2022

Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment (1/2), 2d Marine Division, board a KC-130J Super Hercules at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, April 22, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo

THE PENTAGON – Reducing the Marines to 175,000 and adding more sensor capability to smaller units are part of a wide swath of adjustments the Marine Corps is pursuing in the latest iteration of its modernization drive.

Released on Monday, the Force Design 2030 annual report is the Marines’ latest refinement of plans to...

Marines Committed to New Force Design, Despite Criticism From Retired Generals

4 May 2022

Marines board the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) via landing craft, air cushion, March 21, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Marine Corps’ top requirements officer on Wednesday defended the service’s modernization overhaul against recent criticisms that the Marines are on the wrong path.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, acknowledged that the Marine Corps has not successfully communicated its Force Design 2030 efforts.

“I clearly...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/04/marines-committed-to-new-force-design-despite-criticism-from-retired-generals

NATO Maritime Commander: Allies Are Coming Up With Modern Littoral Warfare Concepts, and NATO Needs to Exercise Them

20 May 2021

A U.S. Marine with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 20.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, adjusts his pack after before a hike near Sorreisa, Norway, March 12, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

The head of NATO’s maritime force says amphibious operations will play a big role in any future combat or crisis response scenario – but he wants to move beyond old notions of what an amphibious operation really is.

Royal Navy Vice Adm. Keith Blount, commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), said this...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/20/nato-maritime-commander-allies-are-coming-up-with-modern-littoral-warfare-concepts-and-nato-needs-to-exercise-them

Marines Eyeing New ‘LXX’ Concept As More Lethal Alternative to LPD Flight IIs

27 April 2021

2003 Artist’s concept of the San Antonio Class amphibious transport dock ships firing a missile from a vertical launch system in the ship’s bow. US Navy Image

The first LPD Flight II amphibious warship is still in the early stages of construction, but the Marine Corps is already eyeing a more lethal replacement for the ship.

The Navy-Marine Corps team was meant to get a big boost in capability when the services decided that a slightly modified San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (LPD-17)...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/26/marines-eyeing-new-lxx-concept-as-more-lethal-alternative-to-lpd-flight-iis

Marines Begin Experimentation to Refine Manual for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

16 April 2021

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Brian W. Nickerson, a platoon commander with Battalion Landing Team 3/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), sets security with his Marines during a raid on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 1, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps has released the first version of its Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations manual and is kicking off a two-year process of near-constant experimentation and analysis to help refine the document before it becomes formal doctrine.

EABO...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/15/marines-begin-experimentation-to-refine-manual-for-expeditionary-advanced-base-operations

Lawmakers Question Who Will Shepherd Navy’s Future Unmanned Fleet

19 March 2021

Maintainers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX-1) analyze diagnostics from the MQ-8C Fire Scout on the flight deck of the Independence variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) on June 21, 2018. US Navy photo.

When the Navy moved from a conventionally powered fleet to a nuclear one, Adm. Hyman Rickover oversaw the transitions for decades, remaining in uniform until the age of 82 as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” to ensure the sea service adopted the new technology in a precise...

Navy, Marines Unveil How They Will Buy and Operate Future Pilotless Aircraft and Crewless Ships

16 March 2021

Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Samantha Stluka, left, and Aviation Electrician 2nd Class Wyatt Cutchen, both assigned to the “Wildcards” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, perform maintenance on a MQ-8B unmanned helicopter on the flight deck of the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), May 14, 2020. US Navy photo.

The sea services see themselves moving toward a future where they are just as likely to perform a mission with an unmanned platform as...

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