Latest news with #counter-UAS
India.com
09-05-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Territorial Army Activated: Indias Auxiliary Force Ready To Support Military Amid Pak Tensions
In a major decision demonstrating increased military readiness, the Ministry of Defence has mobilized 14 of the 32 Territorial Army infantry battalions, India's reserve military force, for deployment nationwide until 2028. The directive, given by the Department of Military Affairs, is issued at a time of increased tensions with Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed lives. Pursuant to defence officials, the Territorial Army is being deployed for "enhanced readiness and strategic buildup," reiterating India's resolve to be prepared for any escalation. India, with almost 14.75 lakh active military and more than 16 lakh paramilitary troops, has a huge manpower and equipment edge over Pakistan, which has under seven lakh active military and around 2.9 lakh in paramilitary ranks. The comparison, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), also reveals India's dominance in aerial assets, armoured vehicles, and artillery systems. In exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 33 of the Territorial Army Rule 1948, the Central Government empowers Chief of the Army Staff to exercise the powers under that rule to call out every officer and every enrolled person of the Territorial Army to provide for essential… — IANS (@ians_india) May 9, 2025 In the last 72 hours, India successfully warded off two waves of simultaneous drone and missile attacks by Pakistan, intercepting threats using its networked air defence system featuring the S-400 Triumf systems, Akash missiles, and the counter-UAS grid. Moreover, Indian air forces shot down Pakistani fighter jets that were attempting incursions. India's military response began earlier this week with Operation Sindoor, a tri-service precision strike targeting nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). These strikes reportedly eliminated over 100 terrorists and neutralised key infrastructure linked to past attacks, including the 2019 Pulwama bombing. Operation Sindoor is India's first unified military operation involving all three services after the 1971 war against Pakistan. The government claimed the operation was in direct retaliation to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, including its suspected role in the Pahalgam attack that left 26 civilians dead. India has also referred to Pakistan's past patronage of international terror groups, citing its suspected complicity in the 2005 London bombings. On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri restated India's stand, producing evidence of Islamabad's ongoing patronage of terror activities, and dismissing Pakistan's demand for an international investigation as a ploy. With tensions still running high, security personnel throughout India are on high alert, and strategic deployments are being watched very closely by defence leadership.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
The US Marine Corps is trying to figure out how to sort out friendly and enemy drones in battle
The Marine Corps is developing drone policies to distinguish between friendly and enemy drones. Efforts include creating an Attack Drone Team and UAS advisory councils for feedback. UAS identification challenges are highlighted by experiences in Ukraine's cluttered battlespace. The Marine Corps is learning to fight with uncrewed aerial systems, and there's a lot to figure out. One Marine Corps leader said the potential for confusion on cluttered future battlefields "haunts" his dreams. "Knowing what's good guys versus bad guys, knowing what to kill and not to kill," that sort of thing "haunts my dreams," Col. Sean Hoewing, the director of the Marine Corps' Capabilities Development Directorate's Aviation Combat Element, said last week at the big annual Modern Day Marine expo in Washington, DC. The push to develop counter-UAS capabilities coincides with the service's efforts to develop its offensive capabilities. The service has established a new Attack Drone Team and aims to replicate it across the Corps, using competition to mimic the stressors of combat. It's also set up UAS advisory councils to accelerate feedback from troops on the ground to senior leaders in the Pentagon who can field requests to industry partners. Drones are quickly becoming a top priority, especially as the world watches what how drone warfare unfolds in Ukraine. In future fights, Marines will need to be able to identify not only friendly or enemy UAS systems with lethal payloads but also systems like logistics resupply drones and maybe even casualty evacuation drones, which could create new concerns around the identification of medical UAS systems for wounded enemy combatants, which are protected by the Geneva Conventions. US Marines with 3rd Marine Division, operate an R80D Sky Raider drone during a training event on Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Cpl. Eric Huynh/US Marine Corps Friendly and enemy identification of drones has become increasingly important in Ukraine, where one Ukrainian drone operator previously told Business Insider that it is not uncommon for troops to end up jamming everything nearby in a "cluttered battlespace." Combat footage from the front lines in Ukraine has highlighted the confusion that can quickly arise from drones. In the chaos of battle, it can be difficult to figure out which quadcopter is friendly and which may soon be dropping grenades overhead. Col. Scott Cuomo, the commander of the service's Weapons Training Battalion and the new Attack Drone Team, envisions a not-so-distant future for Marines in which UAS identification demands will force troops to drill down on strict airspace deconfliction procedures. "Someone's going to do the fires coordination, just like we've always done," Cuomo said, referring to the practices of ensuring strikes from aircraft, artillery, or other weapons can occur without harming friendly forces. "So there's a lot of just building on what we've done in the past," he said. What might that approach include in practice? When a Marine sends out a UAS with a payload on it, "you're going to tell someone that you're going to do that," Cuomo said, referring to detailed fires coordination between infantry units and their command centers. Friend-or-foe identification is far from the only challenge of battlefield drone operations. Both Ukraine and Russia have been forced to grapple with tremendous drone losses, not only to one-way attacks but also to electronic warfare. A reluctance to squander too many UAS systems may add more complexity to UAS identification concerns. "We can't necessarily take the approach that it's okay if we lose 40% of our stuff," Hoewing added. "That's not going to work for the Marine Corps." Loss of equipment is anathema to Marines, who treat equipment accountability as an immovable tenet. That may contradict the lessons from Ukraine though, where cheap drones are considered expendable and used as individual rounds of ammunition. There is a lot to sort out, but the only way Marines will be able to iron out the pains of such complicated UAS oversight will be more sets and reps, Cuomo said. "Just give it to the Marines, and then figure out the training." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
06-05-2025
- Business Insider
The US Marine Corps is trying to figure out how to sort out friendly and enemy drones in battle
The Marine Corps is learning to fight with uncrewed aerial systems, and there's a lot to figure out. One Marine Corps leader said the potential for confusion on cluttered future battlefields "haunts" his dreams. "Knowing what's good guys versus bad guys, knowing what to kill and not to kill," that sort of thing "haunts my dreams," Col. Sean Hoewing, the director of the Marine Corps' Capabilities Development Directorate's Aviation Combat Element, said last week at the big annual Modern Day Marine expo in Washington, DC. The push to develop counter-UAS capabilities coincides with the service's efforts to develop its offensive capabilities. The service has established a new Attack Drone Team and aims to replicate it across the Corps, using competition to mimic the stressors of combat. It's also set up UAS advisory councils to accelerate feedback from troops on the ground to senior leaders in the Pentagon who can field requests to industry partners. Drones are quickly becoming a top priority, especially as the world watches what how drone warfare unfolds in Ukraine. In future fights, Marines will need to be able to identify not only friendly or enemy UAS systems with lethal payloads but also systems like logistics resupply drones and maybe even casualty evacuation drones, which could create new concerns around the identification of medical UAS systems for wounded enemy combatants, which are protected by the Geneva Conventions. Friendly and enemy identification of drones has become increasingly important in Ukraine, where one Ukrainian drone operator previously told Business Insider that it is not uncommon for troops to end up jamming everything nearby in a "cluttered battlespace." Combat footage from the front lines in Ukraine has highlighted the confusion that can quickly arise from drones. In the chaos of battle, it can be difficult to figure out which quadcopter is friendly and which may soon be dropping grenades overhead. Col. Scott Cuomo, the commander of the service's Weapons Training Battalion and the new Attack Drone Team, envisions a not-so-distant future for Marines in which UAS identification demands will force troops to drill down on strict airspace deconfliction procedures. "Someone's going to do the fires coordination, just like we've always done," Cuomo said, referring to the practices of ensuring strikes from aircraft, artillery, or other weapons can occur without harming friendly forces. "So there's a lot of just building on what we've done in the past," he said. What might that approach include in practice? When a Marine sends out a UAS with a payload on it, "you're going to tell someone that you're going to do that," Cuomo said, referring to detailed fires coordination between infantry units and their command centers. Friend-or-foe identification is far from the only challenge of battlefield drone operations. Both Ukraine and Russia have been forced to grapple with tremendous drone losses, not only to one-way attacks but also to electronic warfare. A reluctance to squander too many UAS systems may add more complexity to UAS identification concerns. "We can't necessarily take the approach that it's okay if we lose 40% of our stuff," Hoewing added. "That's not going to work for the Marine Corps." Loss of equipment is anathema to Marines, who treat equipment accountability as an immovable tenet. That may contradict the lessons from Ukraine though, where cheap drones are considered expendable and used as individual rounds of ammunition. There is a lot to sort out, but the only way Marines will be able to iron out the pains of such complicated UAS oversight will be more sets and reps, Cuomo said. "Just give it to the Marines, and then figure out the training."
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders consolidation and transformation of the Army
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the Army to restructure itself in order to create a 'leaner' force. An April 30 memo, titled 'Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform,' calls for sweeping changes to the service, including consolidating commands, canceling several programs and putting more resources into utilizing and countering drones. Some of the measures outlined, such as the expansion of drones and counter-drone systems into maneuver units and increased electronic warfare capabilities, draw on programs already underway. Others expand on wider military goals, including positioning the Army in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China. 'To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant, and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems,' the memo says. The secretary's memo lays out several goals the Army must meet in the name of 'future warfare.' Those include expanding manufacturing capabilities, fielding new long-range missiles by 2027 and achieving 'electronic air-littoral dominance by 2027,' predominantly through expanding the use of uncrewed aerial systems or drones. Some of the most significant structural changes called for include a proposed merger of U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South into a single headquarters rather than two separate force commands. Separately, the memo calls for consolidating Army Futures Command, which focuses on developing new technologies and tactics for soldiers, and Training and Doctrine Command, into a single four-star command. That will be based out of Texas, Army Chief of Staff Randy George said in a separate statement. Overall, Hegseth calls for the closure or consolidation of what he called 'redundant headquarters' and a reduction in the number of generals in the Army in the name of streamlining command chains. A major part of the Army overhaul is the use of drones in the field. Soldiers in several units are already testing different types of uncrewed aerial systems for reconnaissance and offensive purposes, using lessons learned from the applicability of uncrewed aerial systems in the war between Ukraine and Russia. As part of that, every Army division will field drones in some capacity by the end of 2026, Hegseth directs. The memo goes on to call for an expansion of counter-UAS measures as well. Specifically it demands that the Army find more affordable tools for that mission, with those elements integrated into maneuver platoons by 2026, and into maneuver companies by 2027. The integration of more drone capabilities also comes as Hegseth orders a scaling down in other Army features, specifically the number of crewed attack helicopter formations. To augment those reductions, Hegseth also demands the addition of drone swarms that can serve in support of Army aircraft. Another major part of the proposal calls for giving the Army the 'right to repair.' Essentially, that would let the U.S. Army fix its own equipment. Currently, the military has the original manufacturer or other contractors conduct maintenance or heavy repairs on its tools and weapons. That can lead to high costs, often from having to transport the gear and machinery to other locations. The right to repair movement has often focused on civilian consumers, but the memo on the Army outlines how it could help military efficiency. The secretary's memo calls for the Army to 'identify and propose contract modifications for right to repair provisions where intellectual property constraints limit the Army's ability to conduct maintenance.' Beyond the technical integration and components laid out by the directive, the secretary's memo also calls for shifts in manufacturing, acquisition and logistics. Key among the strategic deployments to the Pacific with planting stocks of ammunition and other equipment in locations in the region. In order to help build up those supplies, it also calls for growing American industrial capabilities to avoid running low on munitions and other equipment. The Army has already been working on that, in light of the war in Ukraine, but the directive calls for the industrial base to reach its 'full operational capability' by 2028. Another proposed merger calls for combining units within Army Material Command, with the goal of creating a more streamlined sustainment system, as well as expanding the use of 3D printing by units in the field, to help meet immediate needs. Marine in top enlisted spot leaving the Pentagon after just 2 years Army sergeant found guilty in spree of barracks break-ins and attempted murder End of the 'yeet': the standing power throw is out as new Army fitness test goes 'sex-neutral' for combat jobs Good luck figuring out the Air Force's algorithm for shaving waivers Army cuts athletic trainers from fitness teams, with medics to take up slack
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Marines can't replicate Ukraine's drone war, but leaders have another idea for figuring out attack drones
Marine bases to form competitive drone teams to boost much-needed skills Competition aims to replicate the pressure of combat Drone adoption and training are critical as technology evolves and procurement lags Starting next year, the Marine Corps wants to see each Marine base building its own competitive attack drone teams. Leaders say competition will be key to building skills in the absence of combat. "We can't replicate the existential threat that they feel in places like Ukraine, which forces the cycle of iteration and learning," Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, head of the Corps' Training and Education Command, told reporters Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington DC. "The closest thing we can do is put ourselves out there in competition." "We think that puts us under a level of pressure that will help us to iterate faster, particularly in the first-person-view drone space, which is one of the places we've got the most room to grow," Watson continued. More funding, held up in continuing resolution turmoil, could also help move things along. Small, inexpensive FPV drones have come to dominate Ukrainian battlefields, functioning as readily available reconnaissance platforms and cheap precision-strike ammunition, contributing heavily to battlefield casualties. Such warfare is unlike anything US troops have previously experienced. It's not something that can be easily replicated, but it is what leaders say they want the military training for, spurring the Marine Corps' plan for competition-driven training. Under such a plan, Marine bases would create their own teams mimicking the services' newly established Attack Drone Team, based out of the Marine headquarters base in Quantico, Va. Watson described the Corps' Attack Drone Team as the "leading edge" of what the service hopes to replicate across the force, including more focus on counter-UAS training and the authority for developing policies for the rest of the force. The general compared the new goal to the Corps' marksmanship team in which Marines from across the Corps compete for top spots on the namesake team from their bases. "The premise has been every Marine a rifleman, and we will still hold true to that ethos, with the idea being that every Marine can be lethal at out to 500 yards," Watson said of the Corps' intense devotion to ensuring each Marine, regardless of speciality, is competent shooting a target from half a kilometer. The idea behind building these new competitive drone teams is that small arms fire is still necessary but now insufficient for contemporary conflict, he added. "Now that same individual Marine, using a different weapon system, can also be lethal out to 15 or 20 kilometers with a first-person-view drone." Marine leaders consistently highlighted drone adoption and training as a critical need at the Modern Day Marine symposium, with small group discussions and panels comprised of combat arms, logistics, and aviation Marines trying to work through the headaches of getting drones to junior Marines quickly, in whatever way possible. Until the service can formalize these plans, units will likely be expected to get troops trained using any scrappy, unconventional method possible. As the DoD tries to adopt a more rapid procurement process, whatever tech various base drone team Marines use will inevitably be behind the power curve, Watson said, given the lightning pace at which this tech is evolving. But the service has got to make something coherent happen to get Marines using drones, he said. Soon, service-wide competitions will be an answer. "We've got to field a system and get it in the hands of Marines so that we can start learning and confronting some of these problems that we're going to face head-on," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
