Latest news with #NavyLeagueSea-Air-Space2025
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Marine Corps to field new counter-drone systems to deploying units
Deploying Marine units will be equipped with prototype systems designed to counter drones, said Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, deputy commandant for combat development and integration. 'One of the things that is apparent to all of us is that unmanned aerial systems are a threat not just to infantry Marines, but to all Marines,' said Austin, who is also the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command. That's why the Marine Corps has 'repurposed' some money to field the prototypes for counter-drone systems for dismounted Marines, Austin said at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space 2025 conference at National Harbor, Maryland. 'We're excited to get that out with some of our next deploying units in order to protect them,' Austin said, adding that Marine Corps officials are looking at using both traditional weapons and other means to defeat drones. Starting this summer, the systems will be fielded first to Marine Expeditionary Units and Marine Littoral Regiments, a Marine Corps official said. The prototype systems will allow dismounted Marines to track, identify, and defeat small unmanned aircraft systems, said Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for Combat Development and Integration. 'These systems will be lightweight, easy-to-use, easy-to-train, military occupational specialty agnostic, and to the maximum extent possible use weapon systems organic to individual units,' Flanagan told Task & Purpose on Tuesday. Citing operational security concerns, Marine Corps officials are not identifying the exact technologies being fielded, Flanagan said. The Marines' current ground-based air defenses, which can counter a range of threats, including manned aircraft and cruise missiles, are not always available for small-unit operations, Flanagan said. The counter-drone systems being fielded are meant to address that gap. 'This decentralization of defensive measures aligns with the Marine Corps' emphasis on maneuver warfare and dispersed operations, ensuring that all elements of the MAGTF [Marine Air-Ground Task Force] can operate effectively in all environments,' Flanagan said. In addition to fielding new defenses, the Marine Corps has also established an attack drone team to teach other Marines about new ways to use first-person view drones, or FPVs, based on lessons learned from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Here is the training that the Army says is no longer mandatory Navy fires commander of Colorado-based Information Operations Command Firefighters help paratrooper finish jump after missing the ground Pregnant pilots and aircrew grounded for first trimester under new Air Force flying rules Mold in privatized housing cost this Navy family their health and reenlistment bonus
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
The Marine Corps has settled the debate over the size of a rifle squad
A standard Marine Corps rifle squad will continue to be 13 Marines with at least one rifleman trained for expertise in long-range weapons like drones, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith announced on Monday. 'This includes a school-trained squad leader sergeant and three fire teams,' Smith said at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space 2025 conference at National Harbor, Maryland. 'While this structure sounds familiar, it now includes an organic precision fires specialist.' Precision fires are weapons soldiers use to attack an enemy from a distance beyond that of a direct assault, such as mortars, rockets or loitering munitions and drones. The Marines have experimented with squads with as few as 12 Marines to as many as 15. The changes that Smith announced apply to both traditional infantry battalions and the Marine Corps' new littoral combat teams, said Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for Combat Development and Integration. The Marines have tinkered with the size of a standard infantry squad — the basic building-block of the Marine Corps' frontline units — for several years. Starting in 2018, the Marines experimented with adding an assistant squad leader and squad systems operator to rifle squads, but this was limited to experimental battalions, Flanagan told Task & Purpose. Previous infantry battalion experiments had also looked at having 14-Marine squads divided into two fire teams, along with a Navy corpsman, which would have increased the total size of the squad to 15, Flanagan said. 'Recent Fleet Marine Force feedback and in-stride reading of IBX [Infantry Battalion Experimentation] efforts make the case for maintaining the 13-Marine Rifle Squad and reorganizing it into three teams of four Marines, with a school-trained sergeant squad leader, corporal assistant squad leader, and corporals assigned as fireteam leaders,' Flanagan wrote in an email. The decision to add a precision fires specialist to rifle squads was largely based on what Marine leaders have learned from Ukraine, Flanagan said. Loitering munitions are becoming increasingly precise, offer real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and have a psychological impact. 'Over the last few years, we experimented with our Organic Precision Fires (OPF) capability to provide multiple echelons of the FMF [Fleet Marine Force] with an organic, loitering, beyond line-of-sight precision strike capability,' Flanagan wrote. 'This extends the range and increases the lethality of our Marine infantry squads and platoons.' Smith said his decision on the size composition of rifle squads is part of a 'campaign of learning' based on feedback from battalion commanders. In another force structure change, Smith announced that the Marines are establishing a dedicated fires and reconnaissance company within infantry battalions by shifting resources from headquarters and services companies. 'By consolidating our 81mm mortars, our organic precision fires, and a scout platoon into a single unit, we're better postured to integrate intelligence, precision fires, and reconnaissance at greater ranges – it's all about range – to better enable battalion maneuver – and it is all about range,' Smith said. Here is the training that the Army says is no longer mandatory Navy fires commander of Colorado-based Information Operations Command Firefighters help paratrooper finish jump after missing the ground Pregnant pilots and aircrew grounded for first trimester under new Air Force flying rules Mold in privatized housing cost this Navy family their health and reenlistment bonus
