Latest news with #Tomahawks
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
USMC's Tomahawk Cruise Missile Launching Drone Truck Eyed By Army
The U.S. Army has expressed interest in the U.S. Marine Corps' new uncrewed 4×4 Tomahawk cruise missile launch vehicle as a possible complement to its larger Typhon system, according to Lockheed Martin. The Army said last year that it was looking into ways to shrink down Typhon to help make it easier to deploy and operate based on lessons learned from its first overseas deployment to the Philippines. Typhon currently uses large tractor-trailer launchers to fire Tomahawks and SM-6 multi-purpose missiles. Edward Dobeck, program director of Launching Systems at Lockheed Martin, discussed Typhon and the Marine Corps Tomahawk-slinging Long Range Fires (LRF) launch vehicle in an interview with TWZ's Howard Altman from the floor of last week's Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition put on by the Navy League. Lockheed Martin builds Typhon, also known as the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) and now the Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF) system, and the launcher for the LRF. The launch components of both systems are based on the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) used on various U.S. Navy and foreign warships. The trailer-based Typhon launchers have four launch cells, while the LRF has just one. The LRF's launcher is mounted on a Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) vehicle from Oshkosh Defense, which is based on that company's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The Marine Corps has also fielded a version of ROGUE-Fires configured to fire Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship cruise missiles. It's worth noting here that Lockheed Martin has developed a fully containerized four-cell Mk 41-based launcher for the U.S. Navy that is extremely similar in form and function to the Typhon launchers. The Mk 70 Expeditionary Launcher, also known as the Payload Delivery System, can be readily installed on ships, as well as employed in a ground-based mode. 'There have been some discussions about how to maybe make it [Typhon] lighter,' Dobeck said. 'There's some interest from the Army and other services about that single-cell JLTV[-based launcher], as well, because it is a nice complement to the larger four-cell container that's on a heavy truck.' For the Army, Typhon does represent a major increase in long-range ground-based strike capability. The service currently has two Typhon batteries, each with four launchers and supporting assets, and is in the process of establishing a third one. Loaded with Tomahawks, a Typhon battery gives the Army the ability to hold land-based targets at risk anywhere within a bubble extending roughly 1,000 miles in all directions from where it is deployed. Current versions of Tomahawk also have the ability to engage moving ships, and a further anti-ship optimized variant is in development. Originally developed as a surface-to-air interceptor, SM-6 can also be employed against targets on land and at sea when fired in a ballistic mode. The Army has expressed separate interest in potentially employing SM-6 in the air and missile defense role, where they have a latent capability to engage threats moving at hypersonic speeds in the terminal phase of flight, as well. 'Right now, they're [the Marines] acquiring Tomahawks for those [LRF launchers], but it's the same size Mark 41 cell that is in a vertical launch system,' Lockheed Martin's Dobeck said. What additional changes might be necessary to enable the LRF to fire SM-6, or other missiles already available for use with Mk 41 VLSs, is unclear. 'From an MRC [Typhon] standpoint, you can see what that is going on in the Philippines,' Dobeck added. 'MRC provides a very strategic asset for [use from] the Philippines to be able to provide that capability in the region.' Typhon has the ability to reach targets in mainland China from where it is currently positioned in the Philippines, which has drawn the ire of the Chinese government. The Philippine armed forces are also now looking to acquire the system for their own use. 'Then as that gets deployed to other areas across the Pacific, I think you'll see that range and that strike capability that MRC provides come into play,' Dobeck added. The Army currently plans to conduct a live-fire launch from a Typhon system in Australia as part of this year's iteration of the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise. At the same time, as already noted, the Army has made clear that its experiences with Typhon in the Pacific to date have prompted interest in options for shrinking down that system, or at least some degree of the capability that it offers, into a package that is more readily deployable. 'So, the Mid-Range Capability, we fielded it, we have put it into the theater, but we're learning lessons on how we can improve the next evolutions of that,' Army Col. Michael Rose, commander of the service's 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) headquartered at Fort Shafter in Hawaii, said at the Association of the U.S. Army's (AUSA) main annual conference last year. 'How do we make it more mobile? How do we make it smaller? How do we make it more agile? How do we employ it most effectively and how do we sustain it? A lot of those lessons are feeding back into our RDT&E [research, development, test, and evaluations] and acquisitions professionals to improve and enhance that new operational capability.' The Typhon launchers currently require an aircraft at least as big as the U.S. Air Force's C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane to be moved by air. While we don't know the exact air transportability requirements for a full Typhon battery, we do know that it took 73 C-17 loads to move a Patriot surface-to-air missile battalion recently from South Korea to the Middle East. A battalion is a much larger formation than a single battery, but the Army's current Patriot systems do include similarly-sized trailer-based launchers and radars. The Air Force's C-17s are in high demand in general, even in peacetime, and the need for those aircraft would only increase in any future large-scale conflict, especially one against China across the broad expanses of the Pacific. At the same time, while very capable of using more restricted runways and landing zones for an aircraft of its size, C-17s could still face challenges in finding suitable places to touch down in the Pacific. Airstrips of any kind are still few and far between in many parts of the region despite U.S. military efforts to expand the number of available operating locations. Large, established air bases would be prime targets, and there is also the threat of ever-more capable and longer-ranged air defenses. Moving Typhon by sea would be another option, but the process would be much slower and could be heavily dependent on available port facilities to offload the system's large launchers and other components. U.S. military officials have said on multiple occasions in recent years that they expect sea-based supply lines to be heavily contested in any future high-end Pacific fight. As such, supplementing Typhon with something like the Marine Corps' LRF could give the Army additional options for pushing long-range strike capability, albeit with less magazine depth, into more forward areas. Using uncrewed launchers, which the Army is also increasingly eyeing to help bolster its more traditional artillery capabilities, could help further reduce vulnerability to friendly forces. 'Having a JLTV autonomously be able to operate and provide launching capability is very attractive from an expeditionary standpoint,' Lockheed Martin's Dobeck highlighted last week. In the meantime, the Army is still expanding its Typhon force, but there are growing signs that a smaller complement to those systems is on the service's horizon. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon inspector general to investigate Pete Hegseth's role in Signal chat leak
The top internal investigative office at the Pentagon announced Thursday that it would probe allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the commercially available messaging app Signal to discuss classified information about a U.S. military strike in Yemen. The announcement comes about 10 days after The Atlantic revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat that included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz and other senior administration officials discussing upcoming military actions. 'The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other [Department of Defense] personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,' acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins wrote in a memo to Hegseth. Stebbins said his decision to conduct the review was spurred by a March 26 letter from Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In their letter, the senators asked Stebbins to 'conduct an inquiry' into whether Hegseth shared sensitive or classified information in the group chat. . Specifically, Wicker and Reed asked Stebbins to determine what exactly Hegseth communicated in the chat and whether he'd adhered to the Pentagon's classification and declassification policies as well as its policies on sharing sensitive and classified information on nongovernment networks and devices. They further requested information on whether the White House, Pentagon, National Security Council and other departments all have the same policies for communicating this kind of information. Hegseth and other senior administration officials have repeatedly denied that he shared classified info in the group chat. The inspector general inquiry will also look at whether rules about records retention were followed. The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg wrote last week that Waltz added him to a Signal group chat called 'Houthi PC small group' where Vance, Waltz, Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and others discussed plans to strike Houthi militants in Yemen. After Hegseth and the White House denied any classified information or specific plans were disclosed in the chat, The Atlantic published a full transcript of the conversation, which included Hegseth sharing operational details ahead of the attack. Those details included the timing and nature of specific strikes, using language like, '1410: More F-18s LAUNCH,' and '1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.' President Donald Trump told NBC News last weekend that no one involved in the Signal group chat would be fired. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon watchdog opens probe into Hegseth's use of Signal to discuss Houthi attack plans
The Pentagon's inspector general has launched an investigation into whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated department policy by discussing military attack plans in a private Signal chat, following a report by The Atlantic. The probe will examine whether Hegseth improperly discussed operational plans for a U.S. offensive against the Houthis in Yemen and will also review "compliance with classification and records retention requirements," according to a memo from Inspector General Steven Stebbins. The investigation was launched after the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate's Armed Services Committee requested it last week. "This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military discussions in Yemen," Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote in a letter to Stebbins. "If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss classified and sensitive information." Trump Team's Signal Snafu Sparks Debate Over Secure Comms: 'Russia And China Are Listening' A memorandum addressed to Hegseth asked him to designate two points of contact for the investigation and said it would take place in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Read On The Fox News App Hegseth sent details related to an offensive campaign against Yemen's Houthi rebels last month to principal advisers of the president via a Signal app chat national security adviser Michael Waltz had started. The chat unintentionally included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Stebbins is the acting Pentagon watchdog after President Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general, including the Defense Department's IG, shortly after taking office. Hegseth's Signal messages revealed F-18, Navy fighter aircraft, MQ-9s, drones and Tomahawks cruise missiles would be used in the strike on the Houthis. Trump Officials Accidentally Text Atlantic Journalist About Military Strikes In Apparent Security Breach "1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)," Hegseth said in one message notifying the chat of high-level administration officials that the attack was about to kick off. "1345: 'Trigger Based' F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)" he added, according to the report. "1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)" "1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets)" "1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched." "MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)" "We are currently clean on OPSEC" – that is, operational security. Waltz later wrote that the mission had been successful. "The first target—their top missile guy—was positively ID'd walking into his girlfriend's building. It's now collapsed." Trump administration officials have insisted that nothing classified was shared over the chat. "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS," Waltz wrote on X last week. Hegseth's office told Fox News Digital it does not comment on ongoing investigations and referred to the inspector general's office. Government officials frequently use Signal to communicate, even for sensitive information, as they don't always have access to a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF). Original article source: Pentagon watchdog opens probe into Hegseth's use of Signal to discuss Houthi attack plans
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Armed Services leaders ask Pentagon watchdog to probe leaked Signal chat
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate's Armed Services Committee requested the Pentagon's inspector general probe whether classified defense information was shared on Signal, an encrypted messaging platform. "This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military discussions in Yemen," Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote in a letter to acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins. "If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss classified and sensitive information." The letter was sent Wednesday evening, a committee spokesperson said, after The Atlantic published messages in full that included details about a planned strike on the Houthis in Yemen and revealed a target had been successfully killed when a building he was in collapsed. White House officials have insisted the information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz shared in the chat was not classified. Trump Team's Signal Snafu Sparks Debate Over Secure Comms: 'Russia And China Are Listening' Stebbins is the acting Pentagon watchdog after President Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general, including the Defense Department's IG, shortly after taking office. Read On The Fox News App Wicker told reporters Wednesday he would seek an "expedited" investigation. Hegseth's Signal messages revealed F-18, Navy fighter aircraft, MQ-9s, drones and Tomahawks cruise missiles would be used in the strike on the Houthis. "1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)," Hegseth said in one message notifying the chat of high-level administration officials that the attack was about to kick off. "1345: 'Trigger Based' F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)" he added, according to the report. "1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)" "1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets)" "1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched." "MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)" "We are currently clean on OPSEC" – that is, operational security. Trump Not Planning To Fire Waltz After National Security Text Chain Leak Later, Waltz wrote that the mission had been successful. "The first target—their top missile guy—was positively ID'd walking into his girlfriend's building. It's now collapsed." The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who was unintentionally added to the chat, published an initial story that did not include specifics about the strike he believed to be sensitive. After the White House insisted the information was not classified, he asked them if they would object to him publishing its contents. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that they would object. "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS," Waltz wrote on X on Wednesday. Government officials frequently use Signal to communicate, even for sensitive information, given that they don't always have quick access to a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF). "This is an approved app. It's an encrypted app," Leavitt insisted to reporters Wednesday. Still, even some Republicans have grumbled about how the situation has been handled. Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., a Navy veteran with a top secret clearance, said adding Goldberg to the chat was "totally sloppy," and the information shared was either classified "or at the very least highly sensitive." "In the wrong hands, like the Houthis or any of America's adversaries, this kind of Intel could have jeopardized the mission and put our troops at greater risk," he told Fox News Digital. "It was wrong when Hillary put all that classified information on an unclassified server. It was wrong when Biden had the sensitive files in his garage. And it's wrong now." The Senate letter asked for "what was communicated and any remedial actions taken as a result" and an assessment of whether proper policies had been followed related to government officers "sharing sensitive and classified information on non-government networks and electronic applications." It also asked for the IG to probe how the policies of DOD, the intelligence community, the National Security Council and the White House differ on the matter. The DOD IG's office confirmed receiving the letter yesterday to Fox News Digital and said it was in the process of reviewing it. Earlier this week, Wicker and Reed said they would "likely" hold a bipartisan hearing on the Signal chat. But given the political nature of the storyline, it may be easier to allow an independent watchdog to conduct a fact-finding mission. "This is precisely why independent offices of inspectors general are so valuable. When a situation becomes a hot-button political issue, it's incredibly helpful to have an objective, nonpartisan group of trained professionals to do the fact-finding and answer the hard questions," former State Department inspector general Diana Shaw told Fox News Digital. She warned not to expect the IG to give any answers on whether criminal conduct had taken place, and not to expect a quick probe given the crossover of agencies implicated in the chat. "It's very difficult to do anything quickly when it involves the Interagency – an interagency review requires navigation through a complex maze of jurisdictional boundaries. The committee may get some of its questions answered quickly, but it will likely have to wait some time for answers to the more central questions it's posed."Original article source: Senate Armed Services leaders ask Pentagon watchdog to probe leaked Signal chat
Fox News
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Senate Armed Services leaders ask Pentagon watchdog to probe leaked Signal chat
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate's Armed Services Committee requested the Pentagon's inspector general probe whether classified defense information was shared on Signal, an encrypted messaging platform. "This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military discussions in Yemen," Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote in a letter to acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins. "If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss classified and sensitive information." The letter was sent Wednesday evening, a committee spokesperson said, after The Atlantic published messages in full that included details about a planned strike on the Houthis in Yemen and revealed a target had been successfully killed when a building he was in collapsed. White House officials have insisted the information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz shared in the chat was not classified. Stebbins is the acting Pentagon watchdog after President Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general, including the Defense Department's IG, shortly after taking office. Wicker told reporters Wednesday he would seek an "expedited" investigation. Hegseth's Signal messages revealed F-18, Navy fighter aircraft, MQ-9s, drones and Tomahawks cruise missiles would be used in the strike on the Houthis. "1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)," Hegseth said in one message notifying the chat of high-level administration officials that the attack was about to kick off. "1345: 'Trigger Based' F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)" he added, according to the report. "1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)" "1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets)" "1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched." "MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)" "We are currently clean on OPSEC" – that is, operational security. Later, Waltz wrote that the mission had been successful. "The first target—their top missile guy—was positively ID'd walking into his girlfriend's building. It's now collapsed." The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who was unintentionally added to the chat, published an initial story that did not include specifics about the strike he believed to be sensitive. After the White House insisted the information was not classified, he asked them if they would object to him publishing its contents. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that they would object. "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS," Waltz wrote on X on Wednesday. Government officials frequently use Signal to communicate, even for sensitive information, given that they don't always have quick access to a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF). "This is an approved app. It's an encrypted app," Leavitt insisted to reporters Wednesday. Still, even some Republicans have grumbled about how the situation has been handled. Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., a Navy veteran with a top secret clearance, said adding Goldberg to the chat was "totally sloppy," and the information shared was either classified "or at the very least highly sensitive." "In the wrong hands, like the Houthis or any of America's adversaries, this kind of Intel could have jeopardized the mission and put our troops at greater risk," he told Fox News Digital. "It was wrong when Hillary put all that classified information on an unclassified server. It was wrong when Biden had the sensitive files in his garage. And it's wrong now." The Senate letter asked for "what was communicated and any remedial actions taken as a result" and an assessment of whether proper policies had been followed related to government officers "sharing sensitive and classified information on non-government networks and electronic applications." It also asked for the IG to probe how the policies of DOD, the intelligence community, the National Security Council and the White House differ on the matter. The DOD IG's office confirmed receiving the letter yesterday to Fox News Digital and said it was in the process of reviewing it. Earlier this week, Wicker and Reed said they would "likely" hold a bipartisan hearing on the Signal chat. But given the political nature of the storyline, it may be easier to allow an independent watchdog to conduct a fact-finding mission. "This is precisely why independent offices of inspectors general are so valuable. When a situation becomes a hot-button political issue, it's incredibly helpful to have an objective, nonpartisan group of trained professionals to do the fact-finding and answer the hard questions," former State Department inspector general Diana Shaw told Fox News Digital. She warned not to expect the IG to give any answers on whether criminal conduct had taken place, and not to expect a quick probe given the crossover of agencies implicated in the chat. "It's very difficult to do anything quickly when it involves the Interagency – an interagency review requires navigation through a complex maze of jurisdictional boundaries. The committee may get some of its questions answered quickly, but it will likely have to wait some time for answers to the more central questions it's posed."
