This week on Weapons and Warfare, the team spoke to a group seeking to make mission command more mobile. Host Ryan Robertson visited General Dynamics Land Systems to see its vision for the future of ground combat with its suite of purpose-built vehicles.
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Also featured in this episode:
- Army & Bell press forward with Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
- Navy tests combat resupply of missile system at sea.
- Marines take to the skies with XQ-58A Valkyrie.
- Weapon of the Week: An up-close look at GENTEX’s next generation of helicopter helmets.
You can subscribe to the Weapons and Warfare podcast on the platform of your choosing here.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] HELLO AND WELCOME TO ‘WEAPONS AND WARFARE’ FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. I’M YOUR HOST [RYAN ROBERTSON]. JUST AHEAD ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.
THEY CALL IT MISSION COMMAND ON THE MOVE. SEE HOW GENERAL DYNAMICS IS BUILDING FOR THE ARMY OF THE FUTURE AS WE GET AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT THREE NEW VEHICLES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY AT AUSA.
AND UNCHANGED FOR DECADES, THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IN HELICOPTER PILOT HELMETS IS GETTING AN UPGRADE. WE GO ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE FOLKS AT GENTEX TO GET THE LATEST ON THE H-G-U-56-P IN OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK.
BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.
ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR SIGHTS ON THE AUSA EXHIBITION FLOOR WAS THE FULL-SIZED BELL V-280-VALOR. ALSO KNOWN AS THE ARMY’S FUTURE LONG-RANGE ASSAULT AIRCRAFT.
OF COURSE, IN FEBRUARY, THE ARMY PULLED THE PLUG ON WHAT WAS THEN CONSIDERED THEIR BIGGEST AVIATION PRIORITY, THE FUTURE ATTACK RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT. A DECISION THAT HAS SOME ASKING IF THE V-280 WILL MAKE IT TO THE FINISH LINE. THOSE CLOSEST TO THE PROJECT TELL WEAPONS AND WARFARE; THEY HAVE NO DOUBT THE VALOR WILL ULTIMATELY REPLACE THE SIKORSKY U0H-60 BLACK HAWK.
[MG CLAIRE GILL] “If you were here yesterday morning and heard the Secretary talk about it, she’s doubled down on it. She’s absolutely committed to this system. And I think it’s going to change fundamentally how we operate with in terms of the way it extends the battlefield, the lethality that it will bring, the depth. We’re just in a great place there.”
[FRANK LAZZARA] “Now that we are the company of choice and the program of record, we’re seeing a lot of enthusiasm. Now the questions are when? And how do we do this? And how do we do that? Versus, is this the right platform? What can’t you do? Just that shift in the mentality and the engagements that we are getting is exciting.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THE ARMY IS PLANNING FOR THE FIRST V-280 FLIGHT IN 2026, WITH LOW-RATE INITIAL PRODUCTION SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN 2028 AND INITIAL FIELDING OF THE AIRCRAFT IN 2030.
AS THE NATURE OF COMBAT READINESS CONTINUES TO EVOLVE FOR U-S FORCES IN THE PACIFIC, SO ARE THE MEANS TO KEEP COMBATANTS IN THE FIGHT.
TO THAT END, THE U-S-S CHOSIN RECENTLY ACHIEVED A BREAKTHROUGH IN COMBAT READINESS AS IT SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE TRANSFERRABLE RELOAD AT-SEA METHOD, OR TRAM, ON AN UNDERWAY WARSHIP IN THE OPEN OCEAN FOR THE FIRST TIME. PUT MORE SIMPLY, SAILORS WERE ABLE TO RELOAD THE SHIP’S MARK 41 VERTICAL LAUNCHING SYSTEM. SAILORS ABOARD THE TICONDEROGA-CLASS CRUISER USED A HYDRAULICALLY-POWERED TRAM DEVICE TO LOAD AN EMPTY MISSILE CANISTER WHILE OFF THE COAST OF SAN DIEGO.
[CARLOS DEL TORO] “Today, we proved just how game-changing tram truly is—and what a powerful deterrent it will be to our competitor.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] DEL TORO WENT ON TO SAY THE NAVY IS ON TRACK TO BEGIN FIELDING TRAM IN TWO TO THREE YEARS.
AND THE MARINE CORPS’ X-Q-58-A VALKYRIE HAS ENTERED THE CHAT.
ACCORDING TO A PRESS RELEASE THE KRATOS MADE UNMANNED TACTICAL AIRCRAFT COMPLETED ITS LATEST TEST FLIGHT AND FIRST MULTI-SERVICE INTEGRATION EFFORT DURING EMERALD FLAG 2024 AT EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, IN OCTOBER.
ONE SENIOR LEADER INVOLVED SAID THE SUCCESS OF THE FLIGHT TEST DURING EMERALD FLAG PUSHED THE MANNED-UNMANNED TEAMING CONCEPT A STEP FURTHER FOR THE ENTIRE JOINT FORCE.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WINSTON CHURCHILL IS CREDITED WITH SAYING “TO IMPROVE IS TO CHANGE; TO BE PERFECT IS TO CHANGE OFTEN.”
CHANGING OFTEN FOR AN ORGANIZATION AS LARGE AS THE U.S. ARMY IS NO SMALL FEAT. BUT IF YOU LISTEN TO MILITARY LEADERSHIP THESE DAYS, YOU’LL KNOW CHANGE IS ON EVERYONE’S MINDS.
INCLUDING THEIR COMMERCIAL PARTNERS. PARTNERS WHO ARE NOT ONLY LISTENING BUT BRINGING SOME NEW ANSWERS TO THE TABLE.
PROMINENTLY PARKED IN BOOTH 703 ON THE AUSA EXHIBITION FLOOR AT THIS YEAR’S GATHERING WERE SOME VEHICLES THAT REPRESENT SOME INNOVATIVE THINKING FROM GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS.
SEPARATELY, THE STRYKER, TRX, AND MUTT ARE ALL VERY CAPABLE. BUT THEY WERE BUILT WITH A COLLECTIVE VISION IN MIND.
IT ALL STARTS WITH THE STRYKER MISSION COMMAND ON THE MOVE. TAKING A TRADITIONALLY STATIC BATTLE POSITION AND GETTING IT CLOSER TO THE FIGHT.
[JEFF MASSIMILLA] “And so how do you take something like this? How you distribute the assets within the command post and then leverage assets that are unmanned? Maybe perform functions. They may be performing functions of reconnaissance. They may be performing functions of, you know, disguising the command post by making it look like, from a signature perspective, that it’s not where it is. So that’s the idea of mission command on the move.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] JEFF MASSIMILLA, IS THE GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY AT GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS. HE SAYS IT’S ALL ABOUT CREATING MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES FOR A CREW OF UP TO SIX SOLDIERS.
[JEFF MASSIMILLA] “How do we take unique ways of generating power? How do we take the things you’re going to talk about on the MUTT XM Over here, where I can make the command post look like it’s in a different spot than it is, and integrating that all into a singular identity, so I can really keep the army safe for the customer, safe when, when they’re out there and they have to set up that command post.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] ONE VERY IMPORTANT PIECE TO THE ENTIRE CONCEPT IS THE TRACKED ROBOT 10-TON, AKA TRX, A ROBOTIC COMBAT VEHICLE EQUIPPED TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT RECONNAISSANCE, FIRE SUPPORT, AIR DEFENSE, AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE MISSIONS.
[CHAD MALEC] “So you’ve got some amount of range between the operators in their manned platform, similar to the mccon striker that’s in our booth this year. So you’ve got that, you know, that standoff distance, and then the standoff from this vehicle to the threats, to the targets, from a from reconnaissance surveillance standpoint, then from a from an impact standpoint, to be able to defeat threats before they come into into the bubble.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] IF THE TRX SOUNDS A LITTLE FAMILIAR, THAT MIGHT BE BECAUSE WE RECENTLY PROFILED IT AS ONE OF THE MACHINES THE ARMY IS CONSIDERING FOR IT’S NEXT ROBOTIC COMBAT VEHICLE.
CHAD MALEC, PROGRAM MANAGER FOR GENERAL DYNAMICS, SAYS THE PLATFORM’S BENEFITS ARE NUMEROUS.
[CHAD MALEC] “You’d be able to keep soldiers out of harm’s way, create that extra time and space and standoff, create options for commanders so they can dedicate their resources to the most important tasks and let these systems do the things that are more mundane and more dangerous.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] AND THAT BRINGS US TO THE MUTT XM. GENERAL DYNAMICS SAYS IT’S THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THEIR FAMILY OF MULTI-UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT ROBOTIC VEHICLES.
BUILT FOR A VARIETY OF MISSIONS, INCLUDING DELIVERING ROBOTIC QUADRUPEDS TO WHEREVER SOLDIERS NEED TO HAVE EYES ON A SITUATION BUT DON’T WANT TO BE EXPOSED.
[RAY MOLDOVAN] “It’s a Soldier’s Best Friend, right? You know, mutts are the best dogs, and this is the best robot for soldiers, as far as things that we can do with it, right? With that expanded power offload, you know, 10 kilowatts plus, we can power many different payloads with a payload of over 3000 pounds. You know, that gives us a lot of options,”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WHILE IT’S NOT YET KNOWN IF THE ARMY WILL BITE ON THE UNIT OF VEHICLES’ GENERAL DYNAMICS PUT ON DISPLAY AT AUSA, IT DOES SEEM LIKE A CONCEPT THAT’S TIME HAS ARRIVED.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] ALL RIGHT, FOLKS FOR THIS WEEK’S WEAPON OF THE WEEK. WE’RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT HELMETS THAT THE ARMY USES, AND JOINING ME NOW TO TALK ABOUT THOSE IS [MARCUS GENGLER] WITH GENTEX. [MARCUS], YOUR OFFICIAL TITLE, PLEASE.
[MARCUS GENGLER] “Yeah, I’m the director for road rowing applications here at Gentex.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T WANT TO SAY IT, BECAUSE IT’S A VERY LONG TITLE. SO [MARCUS], TALK TO ME ABOUT THESE HELMETS, OBVIOUSLY. GENTEX, YOU’VE BEEN MAKING HELMETS SINCE THE 40S, YOU HAVE THE GROUND HELMETS THAT MOST SOLDIERS ARE FAMILIAR WITH, BUT YOU GUYS ALSO HAVE OTHER HELMETS.
[MARCUS GENGLER] “We do. That’s right, that’s right. As you can see. You know, we specialize in, we have a very big segment now in the Special Operations helmet, but, but my segment happens to be Army Aviation. And, well, not just Army Aviation, but aviation in general, and so so we’ve created, we’ve made the the HDU 50 6p now for about 30 plus years.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERY HELICOPTER PILOT IS FAMILIAR WITH.
[MARCUS GENGLER] “Every helicopter pilot that flies for the DoD is familiar with. This helmet. You know, the Army’s had it now for 30 years. The Navy is fielding it for their younger aviators, and the Marines, and the Navy, or assuming, the Marines in the Air Force have had this as well. What I did want to kind of focus on is that you’ll notice that the block three Apache helmet is now very similar to the HDU 50 6p there was a unique helmet for this. When the Apache was first fielded, when they fielded the ECHO model Apache, we went to a standardized helmet. So the common design is the same. However, the uniqueness of this helmet is the fact that their heads, integrated heads up display, connects to this helmet in a unique way, very different than the standard 50 6p. and so therefore that that monocle comes up here sits at the eye of the aviator, so that he can fly from that the HDU 50 6p like I said, has been around for many years and and we’re finally giving it a tech refresh. We’re calling it the lockdown liner and, and frankly, what that is for those that are of your audience that are familiar with these helmets, many times these teeth, the impact liner that’s been inside has been a one piece liner, many times a little uncomfortable. So we’ve now broken it up into three different distinct pieces that allow for some breathability and comfort, as well as a an octa dial here that allows for a more stable fit for the back of the nape strap. This should allow for those that fly with goggles or other head born devices to have a little bit more stable and more comfortable feel. And so we’re looking forward to fielding that sometime in 2025 and we’re really excited to show it here at the show.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] SO HELICOPTER PILOTS HAVE SOME MORE COMFORT TO LOOK FORWARD TO. LAST LITTLE THING I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT, SURE YOU MENTIONED THE HEADS UP DISPLAY ON THE APACHE. HELL, THAT’S CORRECT. WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION ARE THEY ABLE TO SEE THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO PUT UP IN THAT HEADS UP DISPLAY?
[MARCUS GENGLER] “So the age 64 pilots today are able to take this, the image that’s being produced from their forward looking infrared as well as their day TV cameras, and they’re able to portray that information into their helmets. They use it for targeting purposes. Many of the gun footage that we’re familiar with is taken from the image that’s produced for that heads up display. So we’re very familiar with what it looks like. It also has data that allows the pilots to fly, so basically a rate of descent, rate of climb, you know, whether they’re in trim, air speed, altitude, those sorts of information is also available for them as well. And frankly, one of the biggest pushes, I think, for the army and in ARM aviation is to improve upon the Heads Up displays that are available for aviators. And so we partner a lot with our industry partners when it comes to heads up displays and heads up display technology, because much like an aircraft is a platform, we believe our helmet system is a platform with which other industry partners will use to put their their kit and capability on. So we’re excited to work with them.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] [MARCUS], THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY.
[MARCUS GENGLER] “You’re welcome. Thank you so much for the time.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WHEN YOU GO TO TRADE SHOWS LIKE THE ONES AUSA, AFA, AND THE NAVY LEAGUE HOST, YOU SEE A LOT OF EYE CANDY SO MUCH SO THAT BRANDS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO ONE-UP ONE ANOTHER.
AND THAT’S THE SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK’S COMMS CHECK. WHILE WE WERE IN WASHINGTON D-C FOR AUSA 2024, THE DISPLAY FOR THE GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION COMMAND ON THE MOVE BOOTH, YES, THE ONE WE PROFILED EARLIER, WAS SOMETHING THAT CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS A CROWD STOPPER.
LOOKING LIKE SOMETHING STRAIGHT FROM TIMES SQUARE, ONLY INSTEAD OF ADVERTISING THE NEXT MINIONS MOVIE OR PUMPKIN SPICED LATTE, IT’S AN EIGHT-WHEELED STRYKER LOOKING LIKE IT’S ABOUT TO DRIVE OFF THE SCREEN AND ONTO THE EXHIBITION FLOOR.
[DAVE CORBETT] “This, the goal was not necessarily to inform with information. It was to just kind of get some eyeballs and have people stop. And they are, seems like they’re kind of stopping. So, so these rules that we come up with, we apply them to every project and every client, and then we sometimes it’s just flat screen stuff, which we have up here too, and sometimes it’s crazy like this.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] DAVE CORBETT IS THE EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR FOR PLUTO, A CREATIVE CONTENT AGENCY. A QUICK GLANCE AT THEIR WEBSITE SHOWS THEY ROUTINELY WORK WITH COMPANIES LIKE THE U-S POST OFFICE, ALDI GROCERY STORES, AND TOP GOLF, JUST TO NAME A FEW. SO WE WANTED TO KNOW IF WORKING FOR A CLIENT LIKE GENERAL DYNAMICS PRESENTED ANY SPECIAL KIND OF CHALLENGE.
[DAVE CORBETT] “Sometimes it’s just, it’s very important stuff, and we’re showing it to the right people at the right time. And it’s, it’s got to be so it’s, there’s some gray area with other other brands and products. Getting it right is not always. This has to be dead nuts every time there’s no there’s no wiggle room, which is very difficult when you also have that and you also have a deadline. So you know, but, yeah, some, some of the, some of the people at Pluto find there’s some kind of purpose with it, and some just think it’s way cooler, because there’s things fire in and these things are so epically giant that that they’re just impressive looking and to be around.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] AND IF YOU’RE WONDERING HOW LONG IT TAKES TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE THAT, DAVE TELLS US PLUTO’S ARTISTS SPEND UPWARDS OF EIGHT MONTHS ON EACH VEHICLE.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
TO WRAP UP THIS WEEK, FOLKS, I’M GOING TO SPEND A FEW MINUTES SPEAKING ON THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF INACTION…SPECIFICALLY HOW U-S AND WESTERN INACTION IS PROLONGING THE WAR IN UKRAINE.
WHILE MOST OF YOU MIGHT SAY THE WAR BETWEEN KIEV AND MOSCOW STARTED IN 2022–FOR THE UKRAINIANS, THE WAR STARTED BACK IN 2014–WHEN VLADIMIR PUTIN ORDERED A SOFT INVASION OF EASTERN UKRAINE AND ILLEGALLY ANNEXED CRIMEA.
NOW, BECAUSE OF A SECURITY AGREEMENT CALLED THE BUDAPEST MEMORANDUM–THE UNITED STATES WAS OBLIGATED TO COME TO UKRAINE’S DEFENSE–BUT DIDN’T. U-S INACTION ALLOWED RUSSIA’S ILLEGAL INVASION AND ANNEXATION TO STAND.
IN THE DECADE SINCE, UKRAINE ASKED OVER AND OVER FOR HELP FROM ITS WESTERN PARTNERS TO FIGHT OF THE RUSSIANS–AND DEFEND AGAINST FURTHER AGGRESSIONS.
REMEMBER THAT PHONE CALL DURING THE 2020 ELECTION CYCLE BETWEEN THEN PRESIDENT TRUMP AND UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY? THAT CALL TOOK PLACE BECAUSE UKRAINE NEEDED AIR DEFENSE WEAPON SYSTEMS.
THE WHITE HOUSE AND OTHER LEADERS IN THE WEST OFTEN BLAME THEIR INACTION ON THE NEED TO NOT EXACERBATE THE SITUATION…OR BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO CROSS ANY RUSSIAN RED LINES.
THAT’S WHY–AFTER THE FULL-SCALE WAR BROKE OUT–
ADVANCED WEAPONS SYSTEMS LIKE ABRAMS TANKS, PATRIOT MISSILE BATTERIES AND F-16S WEREN’T SENT TO UKRAINE FOR MONTHS–OR YEARS IN SOME CASES.
ZELENSKYY TOLD UKRAINIANS JUST LAST WEEK–INACTION AND INDECISION FROM THE WEST TRANSLATES TO DEAD UKRAINIANS.
I’M NOT A MILITARY EXPERT–BUT TO ME–THAT IS A LOSING STRATEGY–
AND IT ALLOWS OUR ENEMIES TO DICTATE THE PACE AND PLACE OF BATTLE.
US TROOPS AREN’T ENGAGED WITH RUSSIAN FORCES IN UKRAINE, YET–
BUT IF THE UNITED STATES CONTINUES TO TAKE A PATH OF INACTION OR DELAYED ACTION IN UKRAINE–RUSSIA AND ITS ALLIES WILL SEE THAT AS CONTINUED WEAKNESS–AND WILL WANT TO SEIZE MORE OF EUROPE. PUTIN AND HIS CRONIES SAY AS MUCH NEARLY EVERY NIGHT ON RUSSIAN STATE MEDIA.
THE US, WESTERN EUROPE AND MOST OF THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD WANTS PEACE IN UKRAINE. PUTIN WANTS WAR. AND HIS ACTIONS PROVE IT.
IT’S WHY THE KREMLIN IS WORKING WITH IRAN AND NORTH KOREA TO GET NOT JUST WEAPONS–BUT NOW SOLDIERS AS WELL. AROUND 10 THOUSAND NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS ARE EITHER IN RUSSIA OR EN ROUTE TO RUSSIA–WHERE THEY’LL HELP FIGHT AGAINST THE UKRAINIANS.
NOW, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST CASUALTY NUMBERS–THOSE 10 THOUSAND OR SO SOLDIERS REPRESENT ABOUT 10 DAYS WORTH OF CASUALTIES ON THE RUSSIA SIDE–SO IT’S PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TO SWAY THINGS AT THE FRONTLINES–
BUT IF THE WEST DOESN’T ACT ON THIS LATEST ESCALATION BY RUSSIA–TO HIRE FOREIGN SOLDIERS TO HELP FURTHER ITS INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN DEMOCRACY–THEN THE ENEMIES OF PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY WILL ONLY BE FURTHER EMBOLDENED.
IT’S TIME FOR DECISIVE ACTION AGAINST RUSSIA–BUT THAT TAKES DECISIVE LEADERSHIP. LET’S HOPE WE GET THAT AFTER NEXT WEEK–WHEN US VOTERS CAST THEIR DECISION ON WHO WILL LEAD THE NATION FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. BECAUSE IF U-S INACTION CONTINUES –THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE DIRE.
THAT’LL DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK ON WEAPONS AND WARFARE. PLEASE REMEMBER TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO ALL OF OUR SOCIAL FEEDS AND SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS!
FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER, AND GRAPHICS ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.
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