Latest news with #MEUs
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top Marine's deployment plans face familiar wrinkle: Inert Navy ships
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The top Marine has a key objective for the Corps: getting Marine Expeditionary Units back on full deployment schedules. But he's going to need some help. 'My top priority ... is restoring a 3.0 MEU presence worldwide,' Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said April 7 at the Navy League's annual Sea-Air-Space Exposition. More specifically, that means a three-ship MEU with an Amphibious Ready Group, or ARG-MEU, deployed out of the East Coast, one out of the West Coast and a third on periodic deployments out of Okinawa, Japan. The primary impediment? Amphibious ships. The Corps needs 31 amphibious ships under law at a readiness level of 80% or greater to consistently meet that need, Smith said. But the readiness of that fleet is hovering at about 50% at any given time. Marines hindered by Navy's amphibious ship maintenance delays An Amphibious Ready Group includes an assault ship, a landing ship with helicopter platform and a dock landing ship. The MEU consists of a battalion landing team, aviation combat element and combat logistics element to form a Marine Air Ground Task Force. Bringing the amphib fleet back up to speed will cost maintenance and procurement dollars over multiple years, Smith said. It will take the Marine Corps, the Navy, Congress and shipbuilders. Smith didn't shirk the Corps' role in the state of the fleet. After two decades of land-based wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Corps had largely left its fleet behind. Money for maintenance and building new ships went to those wars instead. And the way the four-star sees it, a 3.0 presence is the bare minimum. That's because combatant commanders are requesting the combat power of more than five MEUs throughout the years, he said. Marine Corps Times reported in December that the Government Accountability Office had audited Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, and Naval Base San Diego, California, regarding amphibious ship maintenance status. From 2011 to 2020 amphibs were only available for operations 46% of the time. Also, in 2024 the Boxer and America amphibious readiness groups missed exercises and experienced delayed deployments due to the unavailability of vessels. One ship had not deployed in 12 years due to maintenance issues. At the time, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Joshua Benson told Marine Corps Times, 'The current state of readiness impacts the Marine Corps' capacity to support Combatant Commander's needs, to maintain a 3.0 presence with Marine Expeditionary Units performing heel-to-toe deployments, and ultimately limits our ability to respond to crisis around the globe.' Beyond regular maintenance and catch-up work, the lifespan of much of the fleet is in doubt. Out of 32 amphibious-warfare ships, 16 are not expected to reach their 40-year service life. But the entire fleet must serve beyond that time limit to maintain at least a 31-amphibious warfare ship requirement, according to the report. Also at the expo Monday, America's largest naval shipbuilder, HII, reached an agreement to partner with South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to boost shipbuilding across numerous vessel classes. 'By working with our shipbuilding allies and sharing best practices, we believe this [agreement] offers real potential to help accelerate delivery of quality ships,' Brian Blanchette, HII executive vice president and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said in a release announcing the partnership.
Associated Press
07-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Shield AI unveils V-BAT block upgrade powered by Hivemind: advanced autonomy, SATCOM, and heavy-fuel engine among new features
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Shield AI, the deep-tech company building state-of-the-art autonomy software products and defense aircraft, today unveiled the latest evolution of its combat-proven V-BAT. The latest V-BAT offers Group 4 and 5 capabilities in a Group 3 package. It's purpose-built to solve the hardest operational problems facing the U.S. and its allies: finding and targeting threats in GPS- and communications-denied environments, securing borders, and enabling persistent maritime surveillance. 'The most forward-thinking militaries are swapping out their larger, more expensive ISR aircraft—which are too vulnerable for how much they cost — and accomplishing the same missions with smaller, more affordable drones, like V-BAT,' said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI's President, Co-founder, and a former Navy SEAL. 'V-BAT is built for the full spectrum of drone missions—from deep-penetration ISR-T where GPS and comms are jammed to border security, search and rescue, and drug interdiction. If there's a mission out there, V-BAT can do it—faster, cheaper, and where others can't.' V-BAT now boasts a heavy-fuel engine optimized for JP-5, the most common maritime aircraft fuel, extending its endurance beyond 13 hours while ensuring seamless compatibility with naval and expeditionary operations. Enhancing its unmatched versatility, V-BAT now features a fully unassisted vertical launch and landing (VTOL) capability, eliminating the need for a human operator to assist in takeoff or recovery. It still requires no runway, catapult, or net recovery, and its patented ducted-fan design enables safe, precise landings on moving ships, rooftops, and confined areas—even in high winds and rough seas. These capabilities have made V-BAT the unmanned aircraft of choice for maritime and expeditionary forces, deploying on nearly every class of U.S. Navy ship and with all seven Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs). The U.S. Coast Guard recently selected V-BAT for a major ISR operations contract, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) named it their first-ever ship-based ISR platform. V-BAT is Hivemind Pilot-ready, enabling operators to integrate Shield AI's AI-powered autonomy software for best-in-class perception and cognition. SATCOM integration also provides Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) command and control (C2), allowing operators to conduct missions from anywhere in the world. V-BAT supports multi-payload integration, including ViDAR -enabled passive wide-area motion imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and electronic warfare payloads, expanding operational flexibility across domains. Visitors to the U.S. Navy League Sea-Air-Space Maritime Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, this week can see a special edition U.S. Coast Guard V-BAT model at Shield AI's booth (#1101). Stop by to learn more about V-BAT and how Shield AI is advancing autonomous aircraft for maritime operations. About Shield AI Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI's technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit LinkedIn, X and Instagram.
Voice of America
10-03-2025
- General
- Voice of America
Exclusive: Top US Marine says 'crisis' with amphibious ships causing coverage gaps
A shortage of amphibious warfare ships for commanders across the globe has reached a breaking point, with defense officials warning VOA the crisis has triggered a monthslong drought in critical firepower from sea-based Marines. 'I have the Marines, and I have the squadrons, and I have the battalions and the batteries … I just don't have the amphibs,' Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told VOA in an exclusive interview. While the amphibious warfare ships, known as amphibs, make up just 10% of the fleet, they are the go-to alternative to aircraft carriers when commanders need something more precise or expedient. They also are the only ships made for the Marine Corps' rapid reaction forces, known as Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs), to get equipment and troops from sea to shore during an assault. 'Amphibs are vital to us. They are an existential part of who we are as Marines,' Smith said. Military's Swiss Army Knife Once deployed, these units of about 2,000 Marines and sailors are the military's Swiss Army Knife, providing everything from strike power with F-35 fighter jets, to support in non-combatant evacuation operations and disaster relief, like when the 15th MEU rushed humanitarian aid to the Philippines after deadly floods and landslides last October. It takes three amphibs – one big-deck amphib and two smaller ones – to make an Amphibious Ready Group that transports the Marines, a unit often referred to as an ARG/MEU. Smith says the military needs three of these 3-ship units deployed abroad at all times –one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, and one from Japan – a plan known as 3.0. 'The INDOPACOM Commander, the EUCOM Commander, the AFRICOM commander have all called for an ARG/MEU, so 3.0 is the requirement.' However, Smith tells VOA he cannot achieve this requirement with the number of amphibs that are ready today. 'Running ships to ground' While the U.S. military was busy fighting two wars in the Middle East, its amphib fleet, plagued with maintenance deferments and delays, fell into disrepair, said Shelby Oakley with the Government Accountability Office. Oakley authored a GAO report in December that showed half of the 32 amphibs in the fleet are in poor material condition. 'You're running these ships to ground, not taking care of them,' she told VOA. 'This is kind of equivalent to just driving your car and never changing the oil and expecting it to last 15 years. … Key systems aren't functioning the way they are supposed to,' Oakley said. In 2022, Congress mandated the Navy keep a minimum of 31 amphibs in its fleet after the service had tried to divest six of these poorly maintained ships in their fiscal year 2023 budget plan. The Marine Corps had said a minimum of 31 amphibs would be enough to complete their missions, so long as the fleet's readiness rate remained at 80% or higher. 'Your readiness rate is down in the 50-percentile range, and it needs to be 80%, then I would say that's a crisis,' Smith told VOA. One of the amphibs – USS Tortuga – hasn't sailed in more than a decade. And there are 15 more that the Government Accountability Office says are not on track to make it to the end of their 40-year service lives. 'We're trying to keep an aging force ready and focused on what it needs to do,' Admiral Jim Kilby, the acting chief of naval operations, told VOA in an exclusive interview last month. According to Kilby, the problem extends beyond amphibious ships. 'We're running the whole Navy hard. So, when I started in the Navy, we had almost 600 ships. Now, we've got half that, but we are still doing the same mission,' Kilby said. Coverage gaps Kilby says the Navy is trying to tackle the issues dragging down its fleet the same way it fixed issues grounding its fighter jets a few years ago, closely monitoring its processes to adjust long-held practices that are slowing down change. 'The surface committee has doubled the number of ships that completed maintenance on time. It's not where I want to be. I want to get better, so it is not acceptable to have 50%,' he said. Kilby did not have a set date, though, for when the Navy planned to increase the readiness of the amphib fleet from 50% to 80%, an urgent need for the commandant who says the 'gaps in coverage' already have begun. 'There was a non-combatant evacuation operation required to get American citizens out of Sudan when violence was erupting. And because there was no ARG/MEU presence, the AFRICOM commander was forced to use commercial airlines," Smith said. Even when ARG/MEU units have deployed, they've frequently deployed incomplete. The USS America Amphibious Ready Group deployed with two ships instead of three last year because there wasn't another amphib available. And the USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group had so many maintenance delays that the Navy had to stagger each ship's deployment last year, all months later than planned. What was supposed to be a nine-month deployment resulted in just two months with all three ships together. 'When the Boxer wasn't there, they couldn't do F-35 operations, they couldn't support an international partner as they had planned,' Oakley told VOA. 'Not a Navy requirement' The 31st MEU just completed their last patrol aboard the USS America Amphibious Ready Group earlier this month. The next ARG/MEU to deploy from the East Coast or Japan is still months away, according to officials who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss future planning. Officials say one likely won't deploy from the West Coast until 2026. One Navy official told VOA the service only budgets to deploy one ARG/MEU at a time for only 10 months in the year. Asked about the discrepancy between the Marine's needs and the Navy's amphib availability, Kilby told VOA the Marine Corps' 3.0 requirement 'is not a Navy requirement.' 'I do not have a plan to get 3.0. I have a plan to maintain 31 ships per law in our shipbuilding plan,' Kilby said. As the Government Accountability Office points out in its report, that plan banks on the Navy keeping six of the amphibs in the fleet for several years beyond their expected 40-year service life, including some of those currently in poor condition. 'There's huge questions about whether or not they will even make it to their service, expected service life,' Oakley said. Amphibious warfare ships have generally not met the Navy's planned maintenance schedules dating back to 2010, according to Marine Corps documentation. Specifically, from 2010-2021, the Navy extended more than 70% of amphibious warfare ship maintenance beyond its original planned end date. 'This cumulatively resulted in 28.5 years of lost training and deployment time for those ships and their associated Marines,' according to the December Government Accountability Office report. A decade to fix The acting chief of naval operations said the Navy is currently planning the maintenance availabilities needed to do the work necessary to get the amphibs to a life cycle health assessment above poor. Maintenance for seven of the amphibs that were not funded in previous budgets are being funded in the budget being considered by Congress today, Kilby told VOA. 'We're committed to 31 amphibious ships … and when we get a new ship, we'll replace an old ship, because that old ship is more expensive and harder to maintain,' he said. The Government Accountability Office says that even if the planning improves, the Navy and Marine Corps may still need to revisit the overall number of ships required for its missions. 'That's the math, and that's the data that we need them to do to be able to understand how many more of these things do we need to buy, how many more do we need to get online quicker to be able to continue to meet this number,' Oakley said. Gen. Smith said the problem will take at least a decade to fix, which could compound should the United States find itself in a future conflict with China. 'The whole point of having the ARG/MEU out is to prevent conflict,' he said. Kilby says the Navy wants the problem solved by 2027 — year Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered the military to be prepared to take democratically ruled Taiwan by force. 'We have the Navy we have. That's the Navy we're going to have largely in 2027, and we just need to operate it more efficiently and effectively,' he said.
