Marines Testing Battlefield Networks for Future Conflicts

Marine Sgt. Usbaldo Miranda, Jr., systems configuration coordinator, Marine Air Control Squadron 1, Marine Air Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), monitors his computer inside an expeditionary command and control (C2) node during a training exercise at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, Feb. 7, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – The success of small Marine Corps units dispersed across far-flung islands in contested terrain will need a better integrated joint operating picture.

A...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/15/marines-testing-battlefield-networks-for-future-conflicts

PACFLEET CO Paparo Talks Combat Logistics, Chinese Coercion  

Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 3rd Class Taquan West, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5, keeps watch over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) and the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8) on June 28, 2022. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Navy needs to shed 20 years of how it rearmed and repaired its fleet and prepare for a future of increased risk and contested logistics, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday.

The old way the...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/14/pacfleet-co-paparo-talks-combat-logistics-chinese-coercion

VIDEO: First New Navy Hovercrafts Deliver to Fleet Unit After Delays, Cost Increases

JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK – FORT STORY, Va. – Two Navy hovercrafts glinted silver in the low Friday sun as they cut across the Chesapeake Bay, blasting a wake of mist 25 feet high as they headed to their new home.

Landing Craft Air Cushion 101 and 102 left the well deck of USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) to join the older LCACs of Assault Craft Unit 4. LCAC 101 and 102 are part of the Navy’s Ship to Shore and enter a testing regime before the new Textron-built craft join the Navy’s...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/14/video-first-new-navy-hovercrafts-deliver-to-fleet-unit-after-delays-cost-increases

Marines Want VTOL Family of Systems for Future Vertical Lift

An MV-22 Osprey, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 362, idles on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8), Feb. 4. Makin Island is underway conducting routine operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nadia Lund)

The Marine Corps have landed on a family-of-systems approach to developing its next rotary-wing fleet, as it refines requirements for its Future Vertical Lift program, service officials said on...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/09/marines-want-vtol-family-of-systems-for-future-vertical-lift

Moving Marines Across the Pacific Could Be Littoral Combat Ship’s Next Mission

USS Kansas City (LCS-22) off the coast of California on Aug. 16, 2021. USNI News Photo

ABOARD THE LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP USS KANSAS CITY, OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA – The cavernous mission bay of USS Kansas City (LCS-22) was crafted to hold the Navy’s needs to find sea mines, fight swarm boats or interdict submarines – mission packages that have lagged the construction of the ships and plagued the Littoral Combat Ship program.

Now the LCS might be ready for a new mission – moving Marines across...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/28/moving-marines-across-the-pacific-could-be-littoral-combat-ships-next-mission

U.K. Royal Marines Want to Acquire Autonomous Hybrid Surface, Subsurface Stealth Vessel

Concept illustration for a shipping container-sized underwater H I Sutton Illustration

Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has issued a pre-procurement notice for a unique type of vessel to help the Royal Marine Commandos. The document outlines an ‘uncrewed surface and subsurface vessel’ (USSV). The vessel must be multi-payload, have a low signature, and long endurance, according to the notice.

The basic concept has the characteristics of an uncrewed submersible boat, one that can operate on the...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/12/u-k-royal-marines-want-to-acquire-autonomous-hybrid-surface-subsurface-stealth-vessel

Marines Begin Experimentation to Refine Manual for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

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

Next Navy Helos Will Be Mix of Manned, Unmanned

An MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 performs ground turns aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) in May 2015. US Navy photo

The Navy is pursuing both manned and unmanned platforms for the aircraft that will replace its rotary-wing fleet, according to a service official.

Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, who leads the chief of naval operation’s air warfare directorate (OPNAV N98), said during a Navy League breakfast this week that...

Carrier Strike Group, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit Will Join Air Force in Massive Alaska Exercise

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the Gulf of Alaska on May 25, 2019. US Navy Photo

The Navy and Marine Corps will team up with the Air Force for the first time in an Alaska exercise that will serve as a testbed for emerging joint warfighting ideas in all three services, planners told reporters on Thursday.

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the yet-to-be-named carrier strike group will be key players in the Pacific Air Force-led exercise Northern Edge 2021 from May 3 to 14, exercise...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/31/carrier-strike-group-15th-marine-expeditionary-unit-will-join-air-force-in-massive-alaska-exercise

Top Stories 2020: Marine Corps Operations

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Austin McBain, a fire support specialist with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group, monitors a radio during exercise Summer Fury 20 in Yuma, Ariz., on July 14, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.

2020 was a turning-point year for the Marine Corps. After previewing changes to come in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance released last year,...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/23/top-stories-2020-marine-corps-operations

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