THIS WEEK WE’RE HEARING FROM THE MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT AND THE ACTING CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS AS THEY CONTINUE TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THEIR COMPREHENSIVE MODERNIZATION EFFORT, KNOWN AS FORCE DESIGN.
FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, WE VISIT WITH T-R-D SYSTEMS, A PLAYER IN THE COUNTER-U-A-S GAME TO SEE WHAT THEY’RE BRINGING TO THE FIGHT TO ELIMINATE THE DRONE THREAT NOW FACING TROOPS ACROSS THE GLOBE.
AND IN OUR COMMS CHECK, WE GO ONE ON ONE WITH B-A-E SYSTEMS TO GET AN UPDATE ON THEIR AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT VEHICLE, THE ACV-30, NEARLY A YEAR AFTER BEING FIELDED TO MARINES IN JAPAN.
BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.
SAY SO LONG TO THE M-10 BOOKER. THE TRACKED ARMORED VEHICLE, DEVELOPED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS, FOR THE US ARMY WAS AMONG THE NOTABLE CUTS IN A SWEEPING DIRECTIVE FROM SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, PETE HEGSETH.
IN 2022, THE ARMY AWARDED A $1.14 BILLION CONTRACT TO GENERAL DYNAMICS FOR THE PRODUCTION AND FIELDING OF UP TO 96 BOOKERS, WITH A TOTAL OF 504 EXPECTED BY 2035.
ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL EXPLAINED THE DECISION CAME DOWN TO A FEW KEY ISSUES: NOTABLY THE HIGH COST, A TRICKY MAINTENANCE CONTRACT, AND THE VEHICLE’S WEIGHT, TIPPING THE SCALES AT A HEFTY 38 TONS. THE ARMY HAS ALREADY RECEIVED AROUND 80 OF THE M-10s. NOW, THEIR FUTURE IS UP IN THE AIR—THEY MIGHT END UP WITH ARMORED UNITS, SOLD TO OTHER COUNTRIES, OR PUT INTO STORAGE.
ALSO APPARENTLY GETTING THE AXE, THE ARMY’S ROBOTIC COMBAT VEHICLE. IN MARCH, THERE WERE INDICATIONS THAT THE SERVICE WOULD AWARD THE RCV CONTRACT TO TEXTRON FOR THE RIPSAW M3. THAT NOW APPEARS UNLIKELY IN LIGHT OF HEGSETH’S PLANS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE OVERHAUL, WHICH WILL INVOLVE MERGING OR CLOSING HEADQUARTERS, RETIRING OUTDATED VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT, CUTTING UP TO 1,000 HEADQUARTERS STAFF AT THE PENTAGON, AND REALLOCATING PERSONNEL TO FIELD UNITS.
ONE PROGRAM OF RECORD THAT LOOKS SAFE AMONG THE CHANGES BEING MADE IS RED CAT’S TEAL SYSTEM, FEATURING THEIR BLACK WIDOW DRONE, AS THE ARMY’S NEXT-GENERATION SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM. RED CAT, AN AMERICAN DRONE TECHNOLOGY FIRM, WAS SELECTED BY THE ARMY’S SHORT-RANGE RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAM TO EQUIP PLATOONS WITH PORTABLE DRONE CAPABILITIES TO ENHANCE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.
WE CAUGHT UP WITH RED CAT’S VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, STAN NOWAK, AT MODERN DAY MARINE, WHO TELLS US THE NEXT PHASE OF THE PROJECT IS THE PRODUCTION CONTRACT, WHICH WILL DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF DRONES FOR THE INITIAL DELIVERY, BEFORE MOVING TO FULL RATE PRODUCTION IN THE FALL.
YOU CAN MARK ANOTHER MILESTONE IN THE AIR FORCE’S MISSION TO SETTLE ON A BUILDER FOR THEIR FIRST COLLABORATIVE COMBAT AIRCRAFT.
ACCORDING TO A PRESS RELEASE, GROUND TESTING IS UNDERWAY FOR THE Y-F-Q-42-A AND Y-F-Q-44-A — BUILT BY GENERAL ATOMICS AND ANDURIL, RESPECTIVELY.
IT’S A DEVELOPMENT THAT HAS AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF, GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN, SO FIRED UP HE TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHARE HIS ENTHUSIASM. POSTING…
[GEN. DAVID ALLVIN]
“Ground testing is officially underway for our Collaborative Combat Aircraft program! This is a huge milestone and another step toward first flight and rapid delivery to our warfighters… These unmanned fighters are going to be badass!”
EARLY TESTING WILL FOCUS ON PROPULSION SYSTEMS, AVIONICS, AUTONOMY INTEGRATION, AND GROUND CONTROL INTERFACES.
ALLVIN ALSO ANNOUNCING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE SELECTED BEALE AIR FORCE BASE IN CALIFORNIA, AS THE PREFERRED LOCATION TO HOST A C-C-A AIRCRAFT READINESS UNIT.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
THE US MARINE CORPS, LIKE ITS FELLOW SERVICE BRANCHES, IS IN THE MIDST OF A BIG MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE CALLED FORCE DESIGN. LAUNCHED IN 2019, THIS EFFORT IS ALL ABOUT GETTING READY FOR FUTURE CONFLICTS, ESPECIALLY IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION. THE GOAL? TO TURN THE MARINE CORPS INTO A LIGHTER, MORE AGILE, AND TECH-SAVVY FORCE THAT CAN OPERATE EFFECTIVELY IN CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS.
SO, NEARLY SIX YEARS IN, HOW CLOSE ARE THEY TO REACHING THAT GOAL? TO FIND OUT, WE SAT IN ON A SESSION WITH GENERAL ERIC SMITH, THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS, AND ADMIRAL JAMES KILBY, THE ACTING CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS.
[GEN. ERIC SMITH]
“Well, good morning. Try that again. Good morning. There we go. Yeah, there we go. There’s a marine.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
IT SHOULD PROBABLY COME AS NO SURPRISE THE 39TH COMMANDANT OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS IS ALL BUSINESS WHEN IT COMES TO THE FUTURE OF THE MARINES.
IN A 30-MINUTE SESSION THAT STARTED WITH A KEYNOTE SPEECH BEFORE SHIFTING GEARS FOR SOME Q&A, GENERAL ERIC SMITH COVERED A WIDE RANGE OF PRIORITIES FOR THE BRANCH.
LIKE THE BARRACKS 2030 INITIATIVE, A $5 BILLION 5-YEAR PLAN TO UPGRADE FACILITIES, AND THE ROLE OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS IN FUTURE OPERATIONS, SMITH EMPHASIZED THE OPPORTUNITIES AT HAND FOR THE 200,000 PLUS MARINES SERVING ON ACTIVE DUTY AND IN THE RESERVES.
[GEN. ERIC SMITH]
“Every generation of Marines has added a new page to the playbook, and now it’s our turn, force design stand in, forces, long range, precision fires, maritime denial and control from the shore. These aren’t experiments. They’re our contribution to the next fight, and like every year before us, they’re built on lessons learned by Marines in conflict.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ONE SPECIFIC PRIORITY FOR SMITH, IS RETURNING TO A THREE POINT OH ARG/MEU. FOR THE NON-MARINES WATCHING, THAT’S AN AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUP SLASH MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT. SMITH SAID ARG/MEUS ARE LIKE SWISS ARMY KNIVES–GOOD FOR ALL SORTS OF THINGS.
[GEN. ERIC SMITH]
“The 3.0 is our North Star. A MEU embarked on a three ship Amphibious Ready Group is the most versatile, flexible and lethal Global Response Force The United States has to offer. It doesn’t require access, basing and overflight. It gives the nation’s leaders options. We can park ourselves 12 miles off anybody’s coast and stay there for as long as we damn well please.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO WHY IS THE 3.0 MORE ASPIRATIONAL THAN ACTIONABLE RIGHT NOW? SMITH SAYS IT’S A LACK OF AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIPS.
[GEN. ERIC SMITH]
“We don’t have enough that are ready. We’re working with the Navy to fix that. But I need you to understand this is about more than ships. It’s about deterrence and denial. It’s about making sure Marines are in position when the next fight comes.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SMITH WENT ON TO TALK ABOUT A RANGE OF ISSUES FACING HIS BRANCH. FROM FORCE DESIGN TO RECRUITING AND RETENTION, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. AND WHILE HE ACKNOWLEDGED THERE ARE NO SURE PATHS OR EASY ANSWERS, HE REMAINS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE END RESULT.
[GEN. ERIC SMITH]
“This is going to take time. We’re going to do it the right way, not the fast way, just like Marines always do. So yes, the tools are changing. The formations are changing. The fight itself is changing. But what never changes is who we are. We are Marines. We are a war fighting organization, discipline, lethal and ready.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ABOUT 90 MINUTES AFTER GENERAL SMITH WRAPPED, THE ACTING CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, ADMIRAL JAMES KILBY, TOOK THE STAGE, AGAIN COVERING A LOT OF TOPICS, BUT HITTING ON SOME MAJOR THEMES. LIKE HOW THE NAVY IS HONING IN ON SEA CONTROL, POINTING OUT THEY’RE MOVING FROM A MORE RELAXED ENVIRONMENT TO ONE THAT’S MUCH MORE CONTESTED.
[ADM. JAMES KILBY]
“That means I have to have control of that sea space, all domains, from air space, surface subsurface, to conduct from that sanctuary for however. Longer time I need it, those effects I need to bring to shore. So it’s not like we’re getting away from power projection, but we are emphasizing sea control and buying the kit and capability in concert with the Marine Corps to achieve that level of sanctuary, to conduct that power projection.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
WITH AN EYE CLEARLY SET ON THE FUTURE, KILBY LAID OUT SEVEN PRIORITIES FOR 2027: MAKING SURE AMERICA’S MARITIME FORCES ARE AT 80% COMBAT SURGE READINESS, ADAPTING TO THE USE OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS, ENHANCING MARITIME OPERATIONS CENTERS, IMPROVING RECRUITMENT, UPGRADING QUALITY OF LIFE, BUILDING UP WARFIGHTER SKILLS, AND RESTORING HIS BRANCH’S INFRASTRUCTURE.
KILBY ALSO TOUCHED ON THE CHALLENGES THE NAVY AND MARINES ARE FACING WITH MAINTAINING AMPHIBIOUS SHIPS AND THE NEED TO GET THEIR AVAILABILITY RATES UP.
[ADM. JAMES KILBY]
“So I’ll be frank with you. We owe you a three ship ARG. I owe you a three ship, ARG, that’s ready to embark Marines and conduct a training cycle and deploy on schedule. I did not meet that requirement with the boxer arg or the Wasp arc, and I’m focused on meeting that requirement to make sure we move forward.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
AND EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN’T EXACTLY ECHO THE THOUGHTS OF FORMER SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE, FRANK KENDALL…
[FRANK KENDALL]
“China. China. China.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
HE DID EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF BLENDING MARINE CORPS CAPABILITIES INTO NAVY OPERATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC.
[ADM. JAMES KILBY]
“We are responding to a call from our adversary, China, who said, We want to be ready in 2027 therefore the United States Navy, and I would argue, our military must be ready in 2027 across all our platforms to bring those effects to bear.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
TO WRAP THINGS UP, HE HIGHLIGHTED HOW CRUCIAL IT IS FOR THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TO CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER.
[ADM. JAMES KILBY]
“How do we support the Marine Corps when they want to demonstrate the ability and to show the advantage of an expeditionary advanced base that I can get up and move and reposition and bring those effects to bear? That’s work I think we need to do together.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SOMETHING KILBY SAYS THE MARINE CORPS AND NAVY HAVE DONE FOR 250 YEARS, ADDING THEY OWE IT TO THE COUNTRY TO CONTINUE TO WORK SIDE BY SIDE.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK. THIS WEEK, WE’RE GOING TO TAKE OUR INSPIRATION FROM A RECENT EVENT IN THE HEADLINES. IF YOU WATCHED ANY COVERAGE OF THE POPE’S FUNERAL, YOU PROBABLY SAW SOME PEOPLE WALKING AROUND WITH SOME PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT LOOKED LIKE THIS. IT’S AN ANTI DRONE RIFLE. AND HERE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THIS ANTI DRONE RIFLE IS DENISE ON WITH TRD SINGAPORE. DENISE, TELL ME ABOUT IT.
[DENISE ONG]
“Sure. Ryan, so this is our Orion H-10. So 10 represents the amount of frequency bands we have. It is the most advanced drone jammer gun in the market. It’s also, of course, our latest product. So how this works, essentially, is that it disrupts the connection between the remote control and the drone, so that the drone will land, hover or return to home, so that it doesn’t disrupt any events, it doesn’t cause any damage, it doesn’t risk any lives to civilians. So we’ve actually spent a lot of effort iterating and making sure that this drone gun can cover all kinds of drones, not just DJI drones, not just commercial drones, but DIY, FPV and even some military grade drones.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
AND THAT’S WHY THE OPERATING ON 10 DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES IS SO IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THOSE DRONES OPERATE ON DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES, CORRECT?
[DENISE ONG]
“Exactly. A lot of competitors we’ve seen tend to focus on certain kind of aspects of drones. Sometimes some markets have just commercial drones. But for us, we know that because our gun is because our gun has been in a lot of different countries, we know that there are a lot of different kinds of drones that people deal with, so we want to make sure that our gun can be applied to any situation, be it any civilian kind of disruptions or even war based situations.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO IF I’M DEPLOYED WITH THIS THING, I MEAN, IS IT, AM I GOING TO BE EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF THE DAY? I MEAN, HOW MUCH DOES THIS THING WEIGH?
[DENISE ONG]
“So this weighs about seven kilograms, and I think it’s not that heavy, but it is pretty sturdy. Some Marines have actually carried it with one hand. That’s really impressive. So if you’ll see here how this works is it looks exactly like this. You see a drone. You shoot it, take it down, good to go. You can carry it if you want.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO JUST LIKE A NORMAL, NORMAL RIFLE, ESSENTIALLY EXACTLY, NOT EXACTLY THE RAMBO LOOK. BUT YOU KNOW, IN 2025 MAYBE RAMBO WOULD BE CARRYING SOMETHING LIKE THIS. YOU SAID YOU’RE IN 20 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, 25 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
[DENISE ONG]
“So we’re in over 35. Okay, yeah. So all over the world, be it Middle East, Southeast Asia, where we’re from, we’ve also sold these guns to the Canadian DOD. They’re having the troops in Latvia are having our guns right now as we speak.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
WHAT’S NEXT FOR I KNOW YOU SAID YOU UPDATE THIS THING EVERY SIX MONTHS OR SO. I MEAN, WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE ORION?
[DENISE ONG]
“So when it comes to counter drones and drones, we have to keep a close eye on how drones are being developed. We can’t develop any systems just in a vacuum and not thinking about it or just thinking about, Oh, the most sophisticated, sexy looking thing. We want to make sure we have really close boot suit on the ground, just to make sure that as drones develop, we do as well in tandem with what they’re doing. So as drones have certain developments, such as anti jamming modules and stuff like that, we want to make sure that we can do other kinds of soft kills, so that it’s actually not only just RF based jamming, but spoofing as well GPS spoofing. So I can’t really say what our next product will be, although I know which direction it’s going in, but I will say that we’re definitely developing it to make sure that it’s not just one kind of method that we’re relying on, and we’re having a layered defense for any kind of situation.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALL RIGHT. WELL, DENISE, WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SHARE THOSE SECRETS, PLEASE REACH BACK OUT TO US IN THE MEANTIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
[DENISE ONG]
“Thank you for having me.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO ABOUT A YEAR AGO, THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS TOOK THE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT VEHICLE FROM BAE SYSTEMS AND USED IT IN FORWARD DEPLOYED OPERATIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME. SO FOR OUR COMMS CHECK THIS WEEK, WE THOUGHT, HEY, LET’S CHECK IN WITH BAE SYSTEMS AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT THE MARINE CORPS’ FIRST DEPLOYMENT OF THEIR VEHICLE. SO JOINING ME NOW IS PHIL HAN WITH BAE. PHIL, THANK YOU. SO LAST YEAR, THE ACV-30 WENT OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME, FORWARD DEPLOYED OPERATIONS. IT’S AN AMAZING VEHICLE. WHAT DID YOU GUYS LEARN?
[PHILIP HAN]
“Yeah, we’re really proud of this deployment that the Marine Corps was able to complete. One of the proud achievements is we were able to get all 12 vehicles that were deployed to swim back to shore and return back to base right huge, monumental milestone for us and the program and ACV in general. A couple of the things that they were able to learn was being able to maintain, operate and use the ACVs in a very limited resource available environment, and to better understand the vehicle, how to operate it, how to port, deploy it, and use it to its maximum capabilities that we design it for.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
AND THAT’S ALL PART OF THE, YOU KNOW, MARINE CORPS FORCE DESIGN 2030, ASPIRATIONAL GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE IN THESE, YOU KNOW, FORWARD ZONES WHERE THERE’S NOT A LOT OF RESUPPLY, VERY LITTLE RESOURCE INFRASTRUCTURE. BUT LIKE YOU SAID THAT THE MARINES WERE ABLE TO PROVE THE VEHICLE COULD WORK IN THESE EXPEDITIONARY ROLES.
[PHILIP HAN]
“Correct. The Marine Corps was able to complete several exercises across multiple nations. Those exercises went well, right? The vehicle performed as it should, admit its requirements and its capabilities, and they were able to bring it back and use it well.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
LESSON LEARNED? FEEDBACK? ANY SURPRISES FROM THE CORPS THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO GET OUT OF IT?
[PHILIP HAN]
“Yeah. So one of the big lessons we learned is the Marines were able to get a better sense of the vehicle and its operational states. We have done an enormous amount of testing on these vehicles, and we understand the vehicle, but also each vehicle kind of has its personalities, right? So understanding what the ticks and ties are to kind of indicate what may be conditioning from the vehicle. For example, if there is something coming from the engine department, right, what does that lead to? Right? What is that asymptomatic for? And how can we be proactive in remedying any issues before it becomes larger. So that was a huge critical lesson that we we will learn from that deployment.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
EDUCATION MAKES US ALL BETTER, RIGHT? IT DOES, ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.
[PHILIP HAN]
“My pleasure.”
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR THIS WEEK’S COMMS CHECK.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALRIGHT FOLKS, THAT’S GOING TO DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK ON WEAPONS AND WARFARE. OF COURSE, THERE ARE WAY MORE STORIES TO TELL FROM THIS YEAR’S MODERN DAY MARINE THAN WE COULD FIT INTO ONE EPISODE–SO BE SURE TO WATCH OUT FOR THOSE IN THE WEEKS AND MONTHS AHEAD–
PLUS–WE’RE GOING TO SOF WEEK 2025 IN TAMPA TOO– WHICH MEANS IF YOU LIKE HEARING ABOUT THIS KIND OF STUFF–WE HAVE YOU COVERED …BE SURE TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO ALL OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS TOO SO YOU DON’T MISS A THING.
FOR MY WRAP THIS WEEK, I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING FOCUS.
AS A JOURNALIST, I WRITE A LOT OF SCRIPTS….ANOTHER WAY TO SAY THAT IS I TELL A LOT OF STORIES. AND I LEARNED EARLY ON GOOD STORIES HAVE A TIGHT FOCUS.
THEY DON’T WASTE TIME WITH UNIMPORTANT DETAILS THAT DON’T ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION.
AND WHILE OBVIOUSLY NOT THE EXACT SAME–I NOTICED THAT SAME SORT OF ATTITUDE ON DISPLAY AT THIS YEAR’S MODERN DAY MARINE EVENT. THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE LASER FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND–BECOMING BETTER MARINES.
WHETHER THAT’S THROUGH TALKING TO THE SERVICE’S TOP BRASS–
PARTICIPATING IN HANDS-ON TRAINING WITH NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES–
OR LEARNING HOW THEIR INDIVIDUAL PARTS PLAY INTO THE WIDER PICTURE–
THE MARINES WE MET KNOW THAT FOCUSING ON WHAT MATTERS MOST–
IS THE BEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION.
BECAUSE HERE’S THE HARD TRUTH– IF THE U-S FINDS ITSELF IN A CONFLICT WITH A NEAR PEER ADVERSARY LIKE CHINA OR RUSSIA–THE MARINES WILL LIKELY BE THE FIRST IN THE FIGHT-THEY DON’T HAVE TIME FOR DISTRACTIONS. LOSE THEIR FOCUS–AND PEOPLE GET HURT OR WORSE.
FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER, GRAPHICS ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO AND PHOTOGRAPHER DICHON MAGER, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS SIGNING OFF.
