This week on Weapons and Warfare, the team is in Washington, D.C., for the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference and exhibition. Host Ryan Robertson caught up with the Army’s senior leadership and their civilian counterparts to get a feel for where the nation’s largest and oldest fighting force is headed in the face of ever-changing threats from around the world.
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Also featured in this episode:
- The Army turns its focus to providing deterrence in the Pacific.
- THAAD System & Soldiers head to Israel.
- Japanese aircraft carrier docks in San Diego.
- Weapon of the Week: Northrup Grumman introduces new duel feed Bushmaster chain gun.
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[RYAN ROBERTSON] HELLO AND WELCOME TO WEAPONS AND WARFARE. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M YOUR HOST, RYAN ROBERTSON, AND WE ARE COMING TO YOU FROM WASHINGTON, D-C, WHERE WE ARE COVERING THE ASSOCIATION OF THE U-S ARMY’S ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE. JUST AHEAD ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.
WE HEAR FROM THE ARMY’S HIGHEST-RANKING CIVILIAN, OFFICER, AND N-C-O AS THEY FOCUS ON RECRUITING NEW SOLDIERS AND PREPARING THE CURRENT FORCE FOR POTENTIAL CHALLENGES POSED BY AMERICA’S NEAR-PEER ADVERSARIES.
IN OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK SEGMENT, WE GET AN UP CLOSE LOOK AT NORTHRUP GRUMAN’S NEXT-GEN DUEL-FEED BUSHMASTER. CAPABLE OF HANDLING THREATS FROM ABOVE AND ON THE GROUND.
BUT FIRST, HERE ARE SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.
WHILE THE AIR FORCE, NAVY, AND MARINES HAVE RECENTLY TURNED A LARGER FOCUS TOWARD THEIR EFFORTS IN THE PACIFIC, THE ARMY HAS BEEN QUIETER ABOUT THEIR PLANS, UNTIL NOW. SPEAKING AT AUSA, GENERAL CHARLES FLYNN, COMMANDER OF U.S. ARMY PACIFIC, EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF SOLDIERS BEING AT THE FRONT OF AMERICA’S DEFENSE OF THE REGION.
[Gen Charles Flynn, Commander, U.S. Army Pacific] “We concede no domain in the Pacific. We can’t lose in any one of them. So the strength that we have to apply, not just in the air domain, not just in the maritime domain, not just the space and cyber domain, there is also strength that’s required in the land domain to integrate all of these things and the interdependencies of the joint force. They’re reliant upon land forces bringing these things together.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THE U.S. ARMY’S HISTORY OF ENGAGING IN ISLAND WARFARE CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE PACIFIC WAR IN WORLD WAR II, WHEN SOLDIERS AND U.S. MARINES TOOK PART IN THE “ISLAND HOPPING” CAMPAIGN TO CAPTURE ISLANDS IN THE AREA FROM JAPANESE FORCES.
THE UNITED STATES IS SENDING A TERMINAL HIGH-ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE BATTERY TO ISRAEL, ALONG WITH THE TROOPS NEEDED TO OPERATE IT.
IN A STATEMENT, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER, SAID DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN AUTHORIZED THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE THAAD BATTERY AT THE DIRECTION OF PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN. HE SAID THE SYSTEM WILL HELP BOLSTER ISRAEL’S AIR DEFENSES FOLLOWING IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILE ATTACKS ON ISRAEL IN APRIL AND OCTOBER.
[Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary] “It’s going to be fully operations capable in the near future. I’m not going to get into the specific dates for Operation Security. I will say that it has been integrated into the Israeli air defense, as well as our broader US efforts regionally to support the defense of Israel.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THE THAAD WILL ADD ANOTHER LAYER TO ISRAEL’S ALREADY SIGNIFICANT AIR DEFENSES, WHICH INCLUDE SEPARATE SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO INTERCEPT LONG-RANGE, MEDIUM-RANGE AND SHORT-RANGE THREATS.
AND A CONVERTED JAPANESE HELICOPTER CARRIER IS NOW ANCHORED ON THE WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. THE J-S KAGA, NOW AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, IS IN THE U.S TO TAKE PART IN MILITARY READINESS EXERCISES WITH THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS.
THE KAGA IS ONE OF THE FIRST TWO OF ITS KIND IN JAPAN SINCE WORLD WAR II.
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, AMERICAN F-35-Bs WILL BE LANDING ON THE JAPANESE SHIP FOR CREW TRAINING, AS JAPAN HAS 42 OF THE JOINT STRIKE FIGHTERS ON ORDER. IT REPRESENTS ANOTHER STEP IN U.S. STRATEGY TO DETER AND CONTAIN CHINA IN THE PACIFIC.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WITH NEARLY 900,000 ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS AND MORE THAN 500,000 IN THE GUARD AND RESERVES, AMERICA’S LARGEST AND OLDEST BRANCH OF SERVICE FINDS ITSELF IN A TOUGH SPOT.
DESPITE THE FACT IT’S BEEN MORE THAN THREE YEARS SINCE THE UNITED STATES WITHDREW FROM ITS LAST WAR, THE ARMY, MUCH LIKE THE OTHER BRANCHES OF SERVICE, IS IN NEED OF NEW RECRUITS AND MODERNIZATION.
ALL WHILE KEEPING AN EYE ON EVER-CHANGING GLOBAL THREATS.
IN THE OPENING HOURS OF THIS YEAR’S AUSA GATHERING, ARMY LEADERS SAT DOWN TO TALK ABOUT A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES FACING ARMY BRASS AND SOLDIERS IN THE FIELD.
THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY, CHRISTINE WORMUTH LED OFF WITH SOME GOOD NEWS FOR SOLDIERS THAT FIND THEMSELVES DEPLOYED FAR FROM HOME. WORMUTH SAYS THIS NEW OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT PAY WILL PUT AN ADDITIONAL $240 PER MONTH IN THE POCKETS OF TROOPS DEPLOYED FOR MORE THAN 60 DAYS.
[Christine Wormuth, Sec. of the Army] “And that is both to recognize the hardship of being away from families, but also the rigors of deployment, and that is something that will be officially implementing retroactively to October 1 of this year.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] OF COURSE, ONE OF THE BIGGEST HURDLES FACING ANY BRANCH OF SERVICE IS THE BUDGET. WHILE THE ARMY’S HAS REMAINED RELATIVELY FLAT OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, THE EXPECTATIONS PLACED ON SOLDIERS AND LEADERSHIP HAVE NOT. IT’S A SITUATION THE CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS REQUIRES SOME VERY HARD CHOICES AND A WILLINGNESS TO FIND NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS.
[Gen Randy George, Army Chief of Staff] “I can give you a lot of examples where previously we were, we were buying equipment, vehicles, radios, extra stuff that now can be done on an app. And that’s a lot that’s a lot cheaper. And so I think it’s a combination of all those things that we’re going to have to, you know, that we’re going to have to take a look at as we move forward.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THEN THERE’S RECRUITING AND RETENTION. WITH A STATED GOAL OF FINDING 61,000 NEW SOLDIERS IN 2025, THE ARMY IS JUST AS INTERESTED IN KEEPING THE HIGHLY SKILLED, HIGHLY TRAINED TROOPS ALREADY IN THEIR RANKS. ESPECIALLY AS THE NATURE OF COMBAT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE.
[SMA Michael Weimer, Sergeant Major of the Army] “I think we have to have some concerns. I mean, it’s a very competitive market out there. We see it with recruiting, and we see it with retention, but we’ve got a lot of capability to keep those soldiers in. First is purpose. They want to do their jobs. We see that. We’re seeing that with transforming contact brigades right now. We’re seeing soldiers who are getting to do things they hadn’t had an opportunity to do before we talked about it. Now they’re doing it. Matter of fact, we’re hearing from all the other brigades. Hey, when are we going to get to do that? So now we’re trying to figure out how, how we can do this faster, with that sense of urgency I referenced.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WITH AUSA GETTING UNDERWAY SHORTLY AFTER THE PRESIDENT GAVE THE GO-AHEAD FOR THE ARMY TO SEND A TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE BATTERY TO ISRAEL, ALONG WITH THE TROOPS NEEDED TO OPERATE IT, THE SUBJECT OF AIR DEFENSE, AND THE ABILITY TO WORK WITH ALLIES WAS ALSO A HOT TOPIC.
[Gen Randy George, Army Chief of Staff] “I think for all of our air defense systems, anywhere we’re going to go in the world, we are going to be operating as a joint team. So that’s to your point. That’s exactly where we need to go with all of our system, and a big reason why we’re really focused on the network, and a big reason why we’re focused on IBCs and all of these aspects. So I do think, I do know that that will be a great increase in capability when it’s sent over there, and to help tie that whole picture together,”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] ACCORDING TO AN APRIL REPORT BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, THE ARMY HAS SEVEN THAAD BATTERIES. GENERALLY EACH CONSISTS OF SIX TRUCK-MOUNTED LAUNCHERS, 48 INTERCEPTORS, RADIO AND RADAR EQUIPMENT AND REQUIRES 95 SOLDIERS TO OPERATE.
[RYAN ROBERTSON] ALL RIGHT, FOLKS FOR THIS WEEK’S WEAPON OF THE WEEK. WE HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU JOINING ME NOW. IS JOHN MCCOLLUM WITH NORTHROP GRUMMAN. JOHN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
[John McCollum, Strategy & Business Development Northrop Grumman] “Hey, thank you, Ryan.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WE HAVE A BEAST OF A GUN BEHIND US. IT’S THE BUSHMASTER, DUAL FED CHAIN GUN. WHY? WHY DO WE NEED A DUAL FED BUSHMASTER?
[John McCollum, Strategy & Business Development Northrop Grumman] “Yeah, this dual fed m2 30 LF is the latest Bushmaster chain gun that we’re really excited about introducing here at the show. And the key for this dual fed gun is that we had a demand from our customers to address the UAV threat. And what, how this gun helps do that is, it can use two different types of ammunition so you have the right ammunition for both the UAV and the traditional ground threats. And at a flip of a switch, the operator can switch between those two appropriate types of ammunition. So the two types of ammunition here are the high explosive proxround, which we use to address the UAVs, as well as the traditional high explosive dual purpose which we use against the ground targets.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] SO WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF AMMO THAT THE GUN CAN SHOOT, WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
[John McCollum, Strategy & Business Development Northrop Grumman] “Yeah, there are really, there’s this full suite of 30 by 113, NATO standard ammunition that this cannon fires. But the two that we would recommend to load in the dual feed to address both the drones and the ground threats, or the high explosive dual purpose, which is for the ground and then the proximity fused ammunition, which it can address the drones, because it can sense the target, and so if it gets close enough to the target to sense it then goes off and frags against the drone.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THAT’S SOME SCIENCE FICTION THAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME. THE ROUND ITSELF CAN SENSE THE TARGET.
[John McCollum, Strategy & Business Development Northrop Grumman] “The round has a sensor in the nose, and so it can actually sense the target, and it knows then the appropriate time to go off to be able to take it out.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THAT’S CRAZY, JOHN, WHAT’S WHAT’S NEXT? I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY YOU UNVEILED IT THIS WEEK AT THE SHOW. IS IT IN PRODUCTION AT THIS POINT?
[John McCollum, Strategy & Business Development Northrop Grumman] “it’s currently TRL six. So this is our working prototype, the actual gun here, and we’re going to take it to a live fire sometime next year and demonstrate it for some of the customers that are interested. And then at that point we’ll be able to start taking orders. Absolutely.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] THAT’S GOING TO DO IT FOR US ON THIS EDITION OF WEAPON OF THE WEEK.
Here’s the transcript:
[RYAN ROBERTSON] ALL RIGHT, FOLKS, FOR THIS WEEK’S COM CHECK, WE KIND OF HAVE A SPECIAL TREAT FOR YOU. I HAVE AN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER AND FRIEND OF THE SHOW, JON MOLIK, TO KIND OF PICK HIS BRAIN ABOUT WHAT HE SAW AT THIS YEAR’S AUSA SO JON, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. SURE THING, RIGHT?
[Jon Molik, Army Intelligence Officer] “Sure thing.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE SHOW?
[Jon Molik, Army Intelligence Officer] “Oh, I learned. I learned a lot of things. First and foremost, drones are everywhere, right? And I think that’s pretty obvious, given the current landscape that we have down range, particularly in Ukraine. But everybody wants to sell a drone. Everyone, everyone wants the newest capability, and they’re all fighting in order to to get that capability on the battle space now. And what’s, what’s cool for me as an intelligence officer, is a lot of these drones are within the ISR sphere. So they’re they’re trying to demonstrate their EOIR capabilities. They want to be able to fly the EOIR so electro optical, infrared, so the ability to see at night during the day. Also, we have LIDAR capability, which is able to see through clouds, those type of things. And they’re trying to demonstrate how their component could be better. And this is all great for the United States and all of our allies and partners that are here as well as we’re all trying to get just a little bit better, a little bit faster, and that’s really good to see.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WHAT SURPRISED YOU? IS THERE ANYTHING THAT REALLY STOOD OUT AND SURPRISED YOU THE MOST OUT OF THIS SHOW?
[Jon Molik, Army Intelligence Officer] “Well, I think, I think the thing that’s surprising the most is the fact they’re able to get a 155, self propelled howitzer artillery system from Sweden on the second floor of a convention center. I think that’s amazing, right? You want to talk logistics and sustainment, but I don’t know if surprise is the right is the right answer or the right word to describe it, but it’s really heartening to see the relationships that are being built, and some have already been developed, particularly within the NATO community, but sitting through some of these conversations with our allies, some of the panels I was able to attend to see how well we are integrating now, given the threat from Russia and Ukraine and how it’s really forced NATO to come together, and we’re all working together in all domains, not air, ground, land, but also within the intelligence domain as well. We’re talking about increasing communication using a bicyc system, which is like a classified system that we use to pass information. And all of the commanders are on the same page. All of the countries are on the same page. Everyone’s unified in their effort to protect against Russian aggression.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] YOU MENTIONED BAE ARCHER, MOBILE ARTILLERY UNIT. VERY IMPRESSIVE. OBVIOUSLY. BELL HAS A MOCK-UP OF THEIR V280 VALOR HERE. WHAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT KIND OF STOOD OUT TO YOU THE MOST AS VERY IMPRESSIVE?
[Jon Molik, Army Intelligence Officer] “Well, the archer for sure, and that. And this is because the art in today’s fight, we need to be able to shoot, displace, move, and do it very, very quickly, and the archer can do that, right? This is a 155, millimeter self propelled artillery system as a whole. It has extra rounds that follow it with other pieces of equipment, but nonetheless, it’s able to engage targets, fire three rounds and displace within under a minute. I mean, this is the type of capability that we need on the NATO side of the house in order to protect and defend against, you know, again, Russian aggression. And then potentially even someday in Taiwan, if that, if that comes to it,”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] AND THE FACT THAT THE 155 MILLIMETER CAN NOW BE GUIDED, SOME OF THESE COMPANIES ARE MAKING GUIDED ARTILLERY ROUNDS, WHICH IS SCIENCE FICTION TO ME.
[Jon Molik, Army Intelligence Officer] “And we need it. And the other part about the guided piece too is that the is the advancements in the protection against electrical electronic warfare, rather and that, because that’s that’s really helping to change the battle space as well. You can see how the communication between these ISR drones, for example, and satellites, they really have to be able to communicate. And it’s it’s hard to jump frequencies do these things, but anyway, so they’re working on that type of stuff, especially in the guided munition sphere. So it’s not just dumb rounds that we’re sending down range, that we’re sending these smart rounds.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON] JON, ALWAYS APPRECIATE TALKING TO YOU. IT’S REALLY GREAT TO MEET YOU IN PERSON. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. APPRECIATE IT. APPRECIATE IT. ALL RIGHT, FOLKS, THAT’LL DO IT FOR THIS WEEK’S COMS.
Here’s the transcript:
[RYAN ROBERTSON] WOW…FOLKS, IF YOU’RE EVER IN WASHINGTON DC DURING THE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY’S ANNUAL EXPO… I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO TRY AND ATTEND. IT’S FREE–AND IT’S FASCINATING.
FOR US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE– THIS WAS OUR FIRST TIME ATTENDING. WE WALKED ALMOST 20 MILES IN 3 DAYS, LEARNING ABOUT ALL SORTS OF STUFF–AND WE’LL BE SHARING IT ALL WITH YOU IN THE MONTHS AHEAD–PLUS WE STILL HAVE NEW CONTENT FROM AIR, SPACE CYBER FROM A FEW WEEKS AGO TO SHARE…SO TRUST ME WHEN I SAY IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH AMERICA’S MILITARY–WEAPONS AND WARFARE HAS YOU COVERED. MAKE SURE YOU LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS SO YOU DON’T MISS ANYTHING–AND SHARE OUR SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
WHILE WE WERE WALKING ALL THOSE MILES THIS WEEK–THERE WERE A LOT OF NEW THINGS TO SEE –BUT IT WAS STILL FAMILIAR.
SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS DEFENSE EXPOS WE’VE BEEN TO– WE MET SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS ON THE PLANET – AND THEY’RE CREATING INGENIOUS, POWERFUL AND IN MANY CASES– COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS.
PROBLEMS AMERICAN FORCES WOULD FACE IF FEARS ABOUT A CONFLICT WITH CHINA OR RUSSIA BECOME REALITY.
AND THE THING IS– MANY OF THOSE SOLUTIONS ARE READY, OR VERY NEAR READY– TO GO INTO PRODUCTION… BUT THE COMPANIES CAN’T START CHURNING OUT THOSE SOLUTIONS YET– BECAUSE THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS THE D-O-D USES IS– AS MY GRANDMA USED TO SAY– OLDER THAN MUD.
AIR FORCE SECRETARY FRANK KENDALL WAS A LITTLE MORE DEMURE WHEN HE SAID THE DEPARTMENT NEEDS TO MOVE AT THE SPEED OF RELEVANCY–
ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, GENERAL RANDY GEORGE ALSO RECOGNIZED THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION– SAYING THIS WEEK THE ARMY HAS TO BUY SMART AND FAST, BECAUSE ITS BUDGET IS TIGHT, ITS NUMBERS ARE LEAN– AND THAT REQUIRES THE SERVICE TO PRIORITIZE AND MAKE INFORMED INVESTMENTS.
THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE SAYS IT TAKES DOD MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAMS AN AVERAGE OF 11 YEARS TO DELIVER ON INITIAL CAPABILITIES. 11 YEARS. AND BECAUSE CONGRESS CAN’T SEEM TO PASS A BUDGET AND INSTEAD IS RELYING ON YET ANOTHER CONTINUING RESOLUTION– $8 BILLION WORTH OF ARMY PROJECT AND PROGRAMS ARE BEING SLOWED DOWN RIGHT NOW. NOT EXACTLY MOVING AT THE SPEED OF RELEVANCY– OR AS GRANDMA WOULD SAY–THAT DOG DON’T HUNT.
THE UNITED STATES MILITARY IS THE MOST LETHAL FIGHTING FORCE ON THE PLANET–BUT IN DRAWN OUT CONFLICTS–EVEN THE MOST LETHAL WARRIORS NEED WEAPONS.
WHICH IS WHY I ALSO ENCOURAGE EVERY POLITICIAN IN POWER TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE TO ATTEND SHOWS LIKE THE AUSA CONVENTION– SO THEY CAN MEET SOME OF THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN THEY MIGHT BE FAILING–BY NOT MOVING FAST ENOUGH.
THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS, BUT I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. COMMENT ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS, OR EMAIL US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE AT S-A-N DOT COM.
SPECIAL THANKS TO SAM BEATTIE, OUR PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE WEEK. FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER, GRAPHICS ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO–I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS…SIGNING OFF.
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