December 4, 2024 | International, Aerospace
Space Force racing to meet training, testing demands
The Space Force is taking a hybrid approach to improving its training systems, stitching together legacy capabilities with commercial tech.
June 19, 2019 | International, Other Defence
15 extra pounds of gear can be the difference between life or death in a firefight, this Marine officer’s research says
By: Shawn Snow
The weight being humped by grunts into a firefight with a sophisticated adversary like Russia or China could be the difference between mission success or going home in a body bag, according to one Marine officer's award-winning research.
Marine Capt. Courtney Thompson said computer simulations she ran showed that just adding 15 pounds to the “bare essential” fighting load carried by Marines resulted in an additional casualty on the battlefield when Marines were pitted against competent shooters.
The Corps' fighting load varies between 43 to 62 pounds depending on the level of body armor a Marine wears. Military body armor protection ranges from level II to IV. Thompson's simulations were run with level II body armor — protection capable of stopping a 9 mm round. The weight range includes a carried weapon.
She told Marine Corps Times in an interview that the results of the simulations were “eye opening," especially in light of a 2017 government watchdog reported that detailed Marines and soldiers were carrying between 117 pounds to 119 pounds on average.
When she ran the simulations and added more weight “casualties just went up,” Thompson said. And “the better the [enemy] shooter got, the more the difference in weight mattered."
In a near-peer fight, Thompson said, Marines will need to move faster on the battlefield to survive and win.
“The slower they are, the higher the chance they have of getting hit," she said.
But it's not just about reducing a Marine's exposure time to being shot, smaller weight loads aid in more precise shooting and quicker target engagement times.
A 2018 report from Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for a New American Security, explained that heavy combat loads “not only slows movement and increases fatigue” but decrease “situational awareness and shooting response times.”
Moreover, a 2007 report from Naval Research Advisory Committee on Marine combat loads recommended an assault load of just 50 pounds.
As the Corps focuses on the near-peer fight, the weight carried by Marines into battle is a topic that will need to be front and center for Marine commanders, Thompson said.
Thompson's research, which won the Military Operations Research Society Stephen A. Tisdale Thesis Award at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, has the attention of officials at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory — where the Corps has been exploring ways to boost combat power while also reducing the weight burden on grunts. Marine Corps Times has reached out to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory for comments on this research.
Marine Corps Systems Command said its “Gruntworks” team spoke with Thompson about her research. The team handles the integration of equipment for Marine rifle squads.
Thompson, a combat engineer, said she came up with the idea after seeing how “gassed” her Marines got during training as a result of operations tempo and weight.
“I thought if I could quantify weight in terms of casualties and probability of mission success, that's what the Marine Corps understands,” she said.
Thompson's computer simulations relied on Australian human subject data and infantry demographics supplied by headquarters Marine Corps.
The Australian data was used because of the Australian Defence Department's rigorous study on its tiered body armor system, Thompson explained.
The Marine infantry data included physical fitness and marksmanship. The individual Marines within the simulated 13-man rifle squads “represented the average for that rank for all 0311s [Marine rifleman] in the Marine Corps,” she said.
Thompson said she ran the simulations nearly a million times.
Thompson's research showed that reducing the weight burden carried by grunts could save lives and win battles.
But she didn't make any prescriptive adjustments to the Corps' combat gear load outs. She told Marine Corps Times that she didn't want to “limit” a battlefield commander's decision-making.
The Corps' various fighting loads are broken down in its infantry training and readiness manual into four different groups, fighting load, assault load, approach march load and sustainment load.
The load type is dependent on the mission at hand. Thompson's research was aimed at the fighting and assault loads.
The fighting and assault loads include combat gear for the “immediate mission” and the “actual conduct of the assault,” respectively, according to the Corps' infantry manual.
The assault load weight varies between 58 pounds and 70 pounds based on level of body armor. The weight range includes a weapon being carried. The training and readiness manual excludes the weight of a weapon in its gear break down.
Thompson isn't calling for particular pieces of gear to be thrown off the packing list, but she said commanders should throw the entire list in a pack, wear it, and “see if it is a reasonable amount of weight.”
The Corps is already making a number of changes to reduce weight. Some of those include a new lightweight helmet, lighter body armor for counterinsurgency conflicts and polymer ammunition.
But Marines also are packing on weight with new tech like tablets and drones, which have been dished out to rifle squads.
At the end of the day, Marine commanders have a delicate balance of weighing risk verse capability, and it wont be easy for commanders to forgo pieces of equipment on a mission to lighten packs, Thompson explained.
A commander “can't prove the lives they saved” from taking a particular action, Thompson said.
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June 17, 2019 | International, Aerospace
GA-ASI and L3 Technologies Develop and Fly Full-Band Signals Intelligence Solution for MQ-9
LE BOURGET, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and L3 Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) today announced the development and successful flight test of a full-band Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) ISR capability for use on a Predator B® Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). L3's SIGINT solutions were integrated into a wing-mounted GA-ASI pod and flight tested on the GA-ASI Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) MQ-9 Predator B RPAS. This game-changing capability provides significant mission expansion for MQ-9 operations against modern threats in new operating domains. Jointly funded by GA-ASI and L3, this new podded solution was developed in eight months and successfully flight tested in May 2019 on a GA-ASI MQ-9 operating from GA test facilities in Yuma, Arizona. “The successful collaboration between L3 and GA-ASI provides a new dimension for ISR employment of MQ-9 aircraft and provides expanded options for warfighters in the ISR domain,” said Jeff Miller, L3's Senior Vice President and President of its ISR Systems business segment. “L3 is excited to provide its family-of-systems (FOS) SIGINT payload into the unmanned air vehicle arena in cooperation with GA-ASI and looks forward to providing increased capabilities for GA-ASI's current and future MQ-9 weapon systems customers.” “We are excited to work with L3 Technologies to develop this capability for the MQ-9. Generating Electronic Order of Battle (EOB) is a key capability of strategic importance to the U.S. and its allies,” said Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI. “Integrating L3's world-class SIGINT system further enhances the MQ-9's utility in the ISR arena.” About GA-ASI General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is the leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than five million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com. About L3 Technologies With headquarters in New York City and approximately 31,000 employees worldwide, L3 develops advanced defense technologies and commercial solutions in pilot training, aviation security, night vision and EO/IR, weapons, maritime systems and space. The company reported 2018 sales of $10.2 billion. To learn more about L3, please visit the company's website at www.L3T.com. L3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L3 is routinely posted on the company's website and is readily accessible. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “will,” “could” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190616005079/en
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September 17, 2018 | International, C4ISR
Army looks to build stronger tactical cyber teams
By: Mark Pomerleau The Army is looking to build up and resource expeditionary cyber teams that will conduct cyber effects at the tactical edge. These units are called expeditionary cyber support detachments, or ECSDs, and are small teams attached to companies that provide cyber and electromagnetic spectrum effects such as sensing or jamming. These teams have evolved and continue to shift in size and capability. “Every time we go out we're always trying to find something new, some new angle or some way to leverage cyber effects to help the warfighter,” Staff Sgt. Christopher Knight, an ECSD team member told Fifth Domain in a recent visit to Fort Gordon. Knight said it is difficult to find the right staff given the small pool of cyber experts. The ECSDs are recruiting to expand, he said, adding they just received eight more soldiers and are working to train them and develop a pipeline. Currently there are three teams, which fall under the 780th Military Intelligence brigade, with as many as seven soldiers. Full article: https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/army/2018/09/14/army-looks-to-build-stronger-tactical-cyber-teams