9 avril 2020 | International, Naval, Terrestre
Shawn Snow
A series of wargames conducted between 2018 and 2019 helped inform the Corps' decision to divest of tanks and outmoded units and equipment that will have trouble surviving in fight with peer adversaries like China, according to a Marine Corps force redesign report.
From those wargames the Corps learned that the unit that shoots first has a “decisive advantage” on the battlefield and forces that can operate inside the range of enemy long-range precision fires “are more operationally relevant than forces which must rapidly maneuver to positions outside the ”weapons engagement zone, the report reads.
The Corps' decision to divest of tanks, cut ground cannon artillery and light attack air platforms has stoked some criticism. Tanks historically have had success in high-end and urban warfare for decades boasting devastating firepower highly lethal to ground forces.
But tanks and armored vehicles have had trouble surviving against the threat of precision strike and the plethora of drone and reconnaissance systems flooding conflict zones across the Middle East.
For recent evidence, a Turkish launched operation targeting Syrian regime army troops in late February decimated more than a hundred tanks and armored vehicles, dozens of artillery pieces and hundreds of Syrian forces, according to the Turkish National Ministry of Defense.
Turkey posted videos highlighting a mixed role of drones, Paladin artillery systems and aircraft pounding Syrian armor from the skies over the course of several days. The Syrian army appeared helpless to defend from the onslaught of long range systems. Even tanks camouflaged by buildings and bushes were no match for sensors and thermal imaging watching from the skies.
The problem is exacerbated by the number of sophisticated anti-tank systems flooding counterinsurgency conflicts across the globe and access to long range drones once only in control by state actors are now being operated by militia groups.
In Libya, the Libyan National Army has the upper hand in its drone war with the UN-backed Tripoli government. It's equipped with an alleged UAE-supplied Chinese drone known as the Wing Long II that boasts a 2,000 km range through a satellite link and is reportedly armed with Chinese manufactured Blue Arrow 7 precision strike air-to-surface missiles.
“Mobility inside the WEZ [ weapons engagement zone] is a competitive advantage and an operational imperative,” the Marine Corps report reads.
The Corps instead is looking for mobile systems and units that can survive within the reach of precision fires to “attrit adversary forces," create dilemmas for the enemy and “consume adversary ISR resources,” according to the report.
“The hider-versus finder competition is real. Losing this competition has enormous and potentially catastrophic consequences,” the report reads.
Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities will be key on the modern battlefield.
“We have sufficient evidence to conclude that this capability [tanks], despite its long and honorable history in the wars of the past, is operationally unsuitable for our highest-priority challenges in the future,” the report said about the divestment of Marine tanks.
But tanks aren't disappearing from the fight. The Corps says heavy ground armor will still be provided by the Army.
The Corps says it plans to develop heavily into unmanned ground and air systems and rocket artillery and long range fires. According to the report, the Corps is increasing its rocket artillery batteries by 14 to 21 over a 10-year period.
Wargaming that inferred the Corps' force redesign efforts were carried out by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, among others.
22 novembre 2023 | International, Sécurité
Italy blocked French group Safran's planned $1.8 billion purchase of the flight control systems arm of Collins Aerospace because it could have threatened supplies to national armed forces, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday.
6 juillet 2020 | International, C4ISR
Andrew Eversden Leonardo DRS has won a $104 million contract to deliver next-generation mission command computing systems to the Army, the company announced June 30. The delivery order will be fulfilled by the company's Land Electronics business. Defense Information Systems Agency awarded the contract on behalf of Project Manager Mission Command and the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, which is tasked with network modernization. The mission command computing systems are part of the Mounted Family of Computer Systems II, the service's combat computing platform that includes tablets, processors and ruggedized displays. Last week, Leonardo DRS announced a $206 million award by PEO C3T for ground vehicle installation kits for MFoCS II. Hardware delivery will begin in October 2020 and finish in September 2021, according to Paul Mehney, director of public communications at Army PEO C3T. Leonardo DRS is in the second year of a five-year contract to support the Army's mounted computing environment. According to the news release, the system will “support the continued fielding and upgrades of the Army's Joint Battle Command-Platform and features critical system capability upgrades, cybersecurity improvements and multi-touch displays.” The Joint Battle Command-Platform is the Army's next-generation friendly force tracking system that's integrated on 120,000 platforms across the service. There are also “significant” performance enhancements to the platform computing server, the company said. “We are proud to be able to provide these advanced, ruggedized tactical computing systems to give our warfighters the best possible networked situational awareness on the battlefield when they need it,” said Bill Guyan, senior vice president and general manager of the Land Electronics business. “These cyber-hardened systems have more than 20 years of experience built into them and are a key component of the Army's Mounted Computing Environment while continuing to enable the service's network modernization efforts to deliver next-generation Mounted Mission Command capability.” Work on the contract will be completed at the company's facility in Melbourne, Florida. https://www.c4isrnet.com/yahoo-syndication/2020/06/30/army-peo-c3t-awards-another-contract-to-leonardo-drs/
19 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
e Conseil a adopté une liste actualisée de projets devant être entrepris au titre de la CSP. Cette liste comprend dix-sept nouveaux projets, qui viennent s'ajouter aux dix-sept projets initiaux approuvés le 11 décembre 2017 et adoptés formellement le 6 mars 2018. Les projets portent sur des domaines tels que la formation, le développement des capacités et l'état de préparation opérationnelle terrestre, maritime et aérienne, ainsi que la cyberdéfense. Contexte Le 11 décembre 2017, le Conseil a adopté une décision établissant une coopération structurée permanente. La CSP donne aux États membres de l'UE la possibilité de coopérer plus étroitement dans le domaine de la sécurité et de la défense. Ce cadre permanent de coopération en matière de défense permet aux États membres qui le souhaitent et qui le peuvent de développer conjointement des capacités de défense, d'investir dans des projets communs et de renforcer l'état de préparation opérationnelle et la contribution de leurs forces armées. Les 25 États membres participant à la CSP sont les suivants: l'Allemagne, l'Autriche, la Belgique, la Bulgarie, Chypre, la Croatie, l'Espagne, l'Estonie, la Finlande, la France, la Grèce, la Hongrie, l'Irlande, l'Italie, la Lettonie, la Lituanie, le Luxembourg, les Pays-Bas, la Pologne, le Portugal, la République tchèque, la Roumanie, la Slovaquie, la Slovénie et la Suède. Aperçu actualisé des projets collaboratifs CSP (tableau) Coopération structurée permanente (CSP) - Fiche technique https://www.consilium.europa.eu/fr/press/press-releases/2018/11/19/defence-cooperation-council-launches-17-new-pesco-projects