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New York Post
16 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Tanks roll into DC after 1,300-mile journey ahead of Army's 250th anniversary parade
Columns of tanks have arrived in Washington DC ahead of an enormous planned military parade to mark the US Army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with President Trump's birthday and Flag Day. An mile-long line of tanks, some of the 150 military vehicles set to take part in Saturday's parade, arrived in the capital by freight train over the weekend, video shared on X by reporter Benjamin Alvarez shows. M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, and M109 Paladin howitzers were among the equipment that arrived this past Saturday, ending a 1,300-mile journey from Texas that began on May 21. Advertisement The daylong event along the National Mall will also feature approximately 6,600 soldiers and 50 aircraft, according to the Army. 6 A column of tanks has entered Washington DC ahead of Saturday's military parade. AFP via Getty Images The program is budgeted to cost $30 million, but could rise as high as $45 million depending on the need to repair damaged streets around Washington and other factors. Advertisement Each of the M1 Abrams main battle tanks alone weighs around 140,000 pounds. 6 The city is preparing for the $45m event to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Getty Images 6 Some 150 military vehicles and 6,600 soldiers are taking part in the parade. Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via Imagn Images Trump described the cost as 'peanuts' compared with celebrating 'the greatest military in the world' in an interview with NBC News last month. Advertisement 'The Army's 250th birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime event,' Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesperson for the III Armored Corps based at Fort Cavazos, Texas, said in a statement last month. Ahead of the big event, soldiers and equipment who will take part in the parade will be housed in a Department of Agriculture building and a warehouse owned by the General Service Administration, according to USA Today. 6 The tanks set off from Texas last month. via REUTERS In addition to the parade and a fireworks display, the festivities will include a fitness competition, military demonstrations and other activities. Advertisement The parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and end an hour later, to be followed immediately by a concert at the Ellipse. The route is laid out west-to-east along the Mall, starting near the Lincoln Memorial and ending by the Washington Monument. 6 Saturday's parade coincides with President Trump's 79th birthday. Getty Images 6 The parade will travel east down the National Mall. U.S. Army Following the concert, the fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m. Critics from across the political spectrum have slammed the parade as a waste of resources, while others have charged it is a thinly veiled celebration of Trump himself rather than America's fighting men and women.
Business Insider
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
The US Army is planning a pricey parade for its 250th anniversary — and Trump's birthday. Here's what could be on display.
Trump military parade cost Defense officials told NBC News that the parade and static displays could cost as much as $45 million, and the Army could end up largely bearing the brunt of the expenses. In some cases, it would cost individual units over $1 million to participate. "Could the parade potentially impact training? Absolutely," one official said. "Will it impact training? That's unclear." In a May 4 interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press," Trump said the high cost of the US military parade is "peanuts compared to the value of doing it." "We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world," the president said. "And we're going to celebrate it." However, the cost estimates could change as the White House and the Army finalize plans, a little over a month before the event is set to take place. 'Make the celebration even bigger' While the Army has been planning its anniversary celebration for over a year, the military parade was a recent addition to the festivities, which also includes military demonstrations, musical performances, a fitness competition, and a fireworks display. The Army said it was "exploring options to make the celebration even bigger, with more capability demonstrations, additional displays of equipment, and more engagement with the community." Stryker Armored Fighting Vehicles Paladin artillery vehicles The Army also plans to exhibit the M109 Paladin artillery vehicle in its anniversary celebration, though it isn't clear if it will be part of the parade or part of a static display. The Paladin is a 155mm turreted self-propelled howitzer used by the US Army. Its 38-ton weight and tank treads could damage roads. Bradley Fighting Vehicles The parade could also include an infantry battalion with Bradley fighting vehicles and light mobility vehicles like Humvees and Infantry Squad Vehicles. Highly maneuverable and formidable, the Bradley revolutionized mechanized infantry operations, not only primarily serving as troop transport across hostile territory but also allowed soldiers to fight from the armored vehicle. The Bradleys were previously displayed on the National Mall in 2018 during Trump's " Salute to America" event — a toned-down version of his original request to parade American tanks through the streets of Washington. Tank battalion But Trump's first-term goal of showcasing the Army's battle tanks could come to fruition this year, as plans detailed that a tank battalion with two companies of tanks could be part of this year's Flag Day festivities. Army plans did not detail how many of each vehicle would be transported to DC for the parade, but 92 of the 152 vehicles are categorized as "heavy," which could include tanks or other tracked vehicles. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said in April that the White House reached out about holding the event, but she said she didn't know if it would be "characterized as a military parade." Nonetheless, Bowser said that "if military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads." Officials said that the plan for showcasing the tanks is not yet final, and they are taking into consideration how to minimize damage to streets and bridges. Parachute jump by the Golden Knights The parade's finale will feature a parachute jump by the Golden Knights, the Army's demonstration and competition parachute team, according to planning documents obtained by USA Today. Members of the Golden Knights are planning to land and present a "flag to the POTUS on behalf of the Army," per an event planning slide. Costly military celebrations This isn't the first time Trump pushed the idea of hosting a military parade in Washington. Inspired by the military parade on Bastille Day in France, the president said he wanted to host a similar militarized celebration to commemorate the centennial anniversary since the end of World War I in 2018. However, the plan ended up being scrapped due to logistical issues and skyrocketing costs of about $92 million — up from initial estimates of $12 million. Rather than acknowledging the military parade's large-scale scope and costs to repair potential damage to city infrastructure, Trump took to Twitter to blame local politicians for the event's cancellation. "When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I canceled it," Trump wrote on social media at the time. "Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!" he added, referring to Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Bowser, who has been DC's mayor since 2015, responded to Trump's remarks, saying that she "finally got thru (sic) to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America."
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What's next for Army artillery modernization? More demos
The U.S. Army still wants a mobile, long-range artillery capability after canceling an effort to build its own cannon system, but it's not poised to decide a way forward for nearly two years. The Army held demonstrations for self-propelled howitzers in 2021 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, but decided to prioritize an investment in the development of its Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, system. The system used a 58-caliber gun tube on an M109 Paladin howitzer chassis, aiming to fire out to 70 kilometers — roughly double current cannon ranges. When it decided to cancel the ERCA program, the Army acknowledged it still had a requirement for a long-range cannon, and so it gave industry the opportunity last fall to show readily available and fielded systems abroad. A team traveled to Germany, South Korea, Sweden and Israel to see those systems in action. Now, the service is planning another Yuma-based demonstration for January 2026. The Army plans to award each industry team roughly $5 million to bring in artillery systems for a nine-month evaluation process before nailing down requirements and developing a strategy, according to a draft solicitation on the government contracts website The official solicitation for the evaluation was expected to be posted weeks ago but had yet to be released as of Monday. While some might argue the future demonstration is a repeat of the 2021 round, industry is seeing the effort as an opportunity to show more capability. It opens the aperture for systems to be demonstrated that might not have existed just a few years ago. Artillery modernization has been moving at full force as cannon warfare plays out in Ukraine. Several of the systems likely to be demonstrated at Yuma have now had a chance to prove their capabilities in the country fighting against the Russian invasion that began in 2022. This time the Army is looking not only at the range and mobility of the cannons, but emphasizing a thorough evaluation of the rate of fire and the ability to shoot, move, shoot again, and then be resupplied. Why the Army is looking abroad to close a widening artillery gun gap 'They're asking us to demonstrate rate of fire, not just on the howitzer, but the ability to reload the howitzer, so now you have ammunition-carrying vehicles with some reload capability that helps them get after, 'How fast can this thing actually do what it's supposed to do on the battlefield?'' BAE Systems' company vice president Jim Miller told Defense News. 'We always had rate of fire on the howitzer. But, you know, I was a battalion commander in the early 2000s. I was pretty comfortable that I could win the first couple fights, but I wasn't going to get a resupply of ammo fast enough to do anything in the second fight, right? And so that's the challenge they're going to pursue,' Miller added. BAE Systems is submitting its Archer system for the demonstration, which it demonstrated in 2021. Elbit Systems America, which submitted its Atmos self-propelled howitzer system in 2021, demonstrated its newer Sigma howitzer last year. New competitors are likely to be present at the demonstration, too. General Dynamics Land Systems, Rheinmetall and Hanwha all demonstrated capability in November and December for the U.S. Army and plan to submit systems for the upcoming evaluation effort. It's possible others could emerge as the Army opens up the aperture. The previous demonstration in 2021, for example, locked out Hanwha's K9 tracked system because it required the systems be wheeled. Companies with smaller vehicles and different gun systems could be considered. 'You can't maneuver without artillery,' Gen. James Rainey, commander of Army Futures Command, told reporters last week at a conference in Arlington, Virginia. 'That's the Army's main contribution to the joint force.' Army artillery needs more range, mobility and autonomy, study finds High explosive artillery 'is indisputably the number one killer on both sides. So that is not going away, so modernizing, transforming our tactical cannons … towed artillery is problematic,' Rainey said. 'There's some partners, we have some allies who have really, really good, interesting mobile cannons that we're looking to partner with.' The demonstration will also serve as a way to look again at the Army's overall plan for fires capability. According to several industry sources, a fires strategy was presented to the Army vice chief of staff in January, but he rejected it because it was limited to one solution and didn't consider things like rockets. The vice sent the strategists back to the drawing board. The Army plans to select teams for the demonstration in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. While those companies will get some government dollars to attend, there is a pay-to-play element, as the teams will still need to provide some funding to get the systems to Yuma and provide all ammunition. And many of the systems will need to be borrowed from the companies or even other governments. Artillery systems are in high demand amid the war in Ukraine. South Korea's Hanwha wants to bring both a tracked and wheeled version of its K9 howitzer, if they're available, according to company officials. The tracked version is fielded among over 10 allied countries, six of which are NATO members. The wheeled version is in development. 'Our goal and intent is to fully be ready to deliver both a tracked and a wheeled platform,' Jason Pak, Hanwha Defense USA's director of business development, told Defense News. The company is 'full steam ahead in terms of accelerating the production of a wheeled variant,' he said. US Army mobile howitzer shoot-off participants emerge Additionally, while the K9 A1 variant requires three or four people to crew the system, the K9 A2 will allow the crew to drop to two with the introduction of an autoloader said Carl Poppe, Hanwha Defense USA business development director. The Korean Army will field the first A2 unit in 2027, and it will enter production shortly, he added. BAE Systems would bring back Archer, but it could bring the system on a new MAN truck, which is what the Swedish government has ordered as part of its modernization of the system, according to Miller. The company has swapped out the system's ride, even demonstrating it on a vehicle from Oshkosh Defense. Additionally, the company continues to present the option to the Army — separately from the demonstration effort — of a PIM howitzer with a 52-caliber gun tube, Miller said. The current gun is a 39-caliber cannon tube. Elbit, which demonstrated Sigma in the fall, is expected to bring the system to Yuma. Sigma is in full-rate production in Charleston, South Carolina, and Elbit is fielding the cannon system to the Israeli Defense Forces, according to Luke Savoie, the company's president and CEO. American Rheinmetall Vehicles plans to bring what it demonstrated in Germany last fall: the RCH 155, a howitzer developed through a joint arrangement between the company and KNDS and created from an association of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter. The system is integrated onto a Boxer armored fighting vehicle. US Army scraps Extended Range Cannon Artillery prototype effort GDLS is submitting its Piranha system on a 10x10 platform using the same 52-caliber gun mounted on the KNDS-Rheinmetall RCH 155. 'It's fully automated,' Kendall Linson, the US business development manager for GLDS, said in a recent interview. 'The crew size is reduced significantly from what we currently have, of five to six people, down to two or three. The vehicle could handle two ... It's all fully automated.' The team is confident that with the ammunition it will bring, it could achieve desired ranges from the ERCA program, Linson noted. As a new team in the mix, Linson said, 'We're really happy about that opportunity to get into that adjacent market … a market that we're not in right now.'
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The US Army knows it has artillery problems. Now, it just needs to find a fix.
The US Army has long known that it has artillery shortcomings that need to be addressed. As it readies for possible future large-scale combat operations, the Army is looking to plug these gaps. A general told BI the Army wants new cannons that will increase the range of fire. Satellite images of eastern Ukraine show pockmarked battlefields left scarred by relentless artillery fire. The craters are a constant reminder that these deadly cannons still play a crucial role in modern warfare. The US Army is watching this conflict closely as it prepares for potential large-scale combat operations overseas. The importance of artillery isn't new to it, though. The military knows the value of being able to lob a shell or rocket down range, but it also knows it needs to step up its game. Russia and China are both stepping up theirs. A general looking into this matter said that there are three areas where Army artillery faces serious capability gaps. He added that the hunt for artillery solutions to bridge these shortcomings is already underway. "We saw some capability gaps against adversaries in two different theaters as we projected forward into 2030 - 2035," Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks, director of the Army Futures Command long-range precision fires cross-functional team, told Business Insider in a recent interview. The first deficit is range. Army artillery doesn't have the necessary reach compared to US adversaries. "You provide enemy sanctuary, in some cases, when the enemy has a range overmatch," Crooks explained. Then there is capacity. The US doesn't have enough artillery systems to match the enemy. Simply put, he said, "we're out-gunned." And lastly, there are survivability concerns. Although some US rivals are divesting of their towed artillery systems, the US Army isn't. Typically, when soldiers fire their artillery cannons at enemy positions, they want to disperse immediately before the anticipated counter-battery fire — a tactic known as shoot-and-scoot. Towed artillery pieces like the M777 are slower and more difficult to relocate quickly compared to the self-propelled systems, which are mounted on tracked vehicles. That diminishes survivability. "Those three problems — range, capacity, and survivability based on mobility — are really hard to overcome individually," Crooks said, adding that "collectively, they're very hard to overcome and put us at risk for mission success moving forward." In recent years, the Army has sought to extend the reach of its guns. One such effort, the Strategic Long Range Cannon, was intended to fire projectiles some 1,000 nautical miles away, but Congress halted funding for the research in 2022. Another Army initiative, the 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, began in 2018 with the aim of extending the range of artillery fire from 18 to 43 miles. The weapon — a 30-foot gun tube mounted on the chassis of an M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer — concluded the prototyping stage but did not end up moving into production due to problems observed during live-fire testing. The Army canceled the ERCA program last year, shifting focus to the new Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization effort. A Congressional Research Service report published in early February said a study of new conventional fires concluded last year found the Army should focus its efforts on "more autonomous artillery systems with greater range and improved mobility." It also said that even though the Army ultimately canceled the ERCA program, starting again on its hunt for artillery solutions, "a recently conducted tactical fires study validated the capability gap that the ERCA sought to fill. Observations from Ukraine reinforce the critical role of mobile cannon artillery." Moving forward, Crooks said that the Army is going to take the success it had with the ammunition work for ERCA and partner that with guns available on the market. He said the service is already looking into allied and partner capabilities. The Army is specifically eyeing self-propelled howitzers with 52-caliber gun tubes. It is a middle ground between the larger 58-caliber ERCA and the smaller 39-caliber M777 towed howitzer. "The work that we're doing with introducing, potentially, modernized platforms that are 52-caliber in length, along with the ammunition work that we did that started with ERCA, we think we'll be able to address the requirement that we needed from the ERCA platform and prototyping effort," Crooks said. Last fall, the Army announced that it had awarded contracts to five vendors for the Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization effort. The $4 million contracts went to American Rheinmetall Vehicles, BAE BOFORS, Hanwha Defense USA, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Elbit Systems USA. The next step is getting prototype artillery systems out to Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, where the systems will be put through a series of firing tests. The service could make a decision on its new cannon as early as next year. But finding a suitable and available 52-caliber gun is just one piece of the puzzle as the Army looks to overcome its range, capacity, and survivability deficits, Crooks said. The Army also needs to continue the ammunition innovation that was started under the ERCA program, such as the XM1155 sub-caliber projectile developed for the ERCA's 155 mm XM907E2 58-caliber cannon, and scale up its one-way attack drones so these explosive-packed weapons can be used in lieu of traditional artillery rounds. Artillery is just one element of combined-arms warfare, but as Army leaders continue to closely watch Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it is clear that strong cannons will be needed to achieve success in future large-scale combat operations. "I think what we're seeing is when you don't have adequate artillery to achieve local fire superiority, then that battle devolves quickly to attritional warfare — static warfare," Crooks said. And that's not the kind of war the US military was built to fight. Read the original article on Business Insider
