/ world today news/ “They are not elite anymore?” – the American command is increasingly asking this question, talking about the Marine Corps. The Pentagon is trying to reform this kind of troops, but has faced fierce criticism from its own officials. About the reasons for the dissatisfaction – in the material.
Self-contained robot
The Marines recently showed off a new weapon, a long-range unmanned surface vessel.
Officially, the system is called “semi-autonomous”. “Probably, the ship will be able to perform certain tasks on its own after receiving instructions from a person,” suggests the specialized edition “Drive”.
The drone is designed for long maneuvers in the open ocean. Capable of swarming with other drones. If necessary, taking on board and crew.
Designed “primarily for reconnaissance”. Armed with the “Hiro-120” missile system. There are eight X-wing guided munitions in one mount. The range is 60 kilometers.
Such weapons help, among other things, to gather information. If the smart bomb completes a mission without attacking a target, it can be repaired and reused.
Marines are the first to master the new – they want to be made “soldiers of the future”. For this purpose, in 2020, they developed the “Force Design 2030” concept.
„Give up to invest’
The document was authored by Marine Corps Commander David Berger. He proposed reform because of the lack of sufficient funding. So the officer proclaimed the “Give Up to Invest” approach. That is, to reduce the size of the corps and the range of armaments.
In addition, the then-current US National Security Strategy called China “the only competitor that has both the intent to change the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.”
During the years of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marines, according to Berger, have become “just another ground army.” And he decided to turn them into a lighter and more maneuverable force operating at sea. It implies a complete abandonment of tanks and a significant reduction in cannon artillery – by 67%.
It is not yet known how the number of fighters will be reduced. More than 20% is also possible.
„We don’t go further than the beach”
Corps veterans criticized this. And they united in the “Colder-II” movement. “Cholderites” – that’s what the officers called themselves who argued after World War II with Harry Truman’s administration about how the Marine Corps should be.
Commander Berger has been accused of focusing on the Chinese threat and only one theater of war, the Western Pacific.
Rejecting tanks is also frowned upon by many. Can’t do without heavy equipment in urban battles. And in the event of a conflict with China, this cannot be avoided – the coastal areas there are highly urbanized. “Is your new motto ‘We go no further than the beach?'” quipped retired Major John Spencer.
Berger justifies himself: the army will quickly share armor if necessary. But the Cholderites doubt it – the conflicts in the Middle East have shown that there is much to be desired in terms of interagency coordination.
Supporters of the reform stand by their position: the modernized “Abrams” are too heavy for the coastal ship system – special platforms that will have an important role in the renewed troops. And servicing tanks is not easy.
In addition, a large and heavy vehicle drastically reduces the mobility of combat formations. And the Marine Corps, according to Berger’s plan, should be able to “win the battle, not the war.” To take the first blow before the army approaches. You don’t need tanks for this.
“Like in Ukraine”
Note that Force Design 2030 is a flexible concept. Without changing the essence, the authors regularly update the details. The last time was last spring.
Based on the results of the first months of the conflict in Ukraine, Western analysts believe that small mobile and at the same time well-coordinated groups are effective against large Russian formations.
“Imagine a corps that could do the same, only many times more,” wrote former US Deputy Secretary of Defense and ex-Marine Robert Work.
This added “points” to Berger. And he turned three regiments of Marines based in the Western Pacific into what he called a reserve force. It is they who will be the first to repel a possible blow from China. It is assumed that the fighting will not be on the continent.
“The reserve forces could turn the chain of islands into a noose around the neck of the Chinese military,” Wark said.
“Great forces cannot be gathered”
Years of war games and analysis of real conflicts have shown that potential adversaries – Russia and China – have created so-called access prevention networks. Short, medium and long range guided munitions reduce the chance of miss to almost zero. This means that it is unrealistic to assemble a large landing force in the area of action of such weapons, notes Berger.
Therefore, he proposed to concentrate not the “mass”, but the fiery effect. Scattered units are capable of this – thanks to well-functioning coordination and high-precision weapons.
Therefore, the commandant decides to reduce the staff. The functions previously performed by the company are now taken over by the platoon – 13-15 people. With its own means of reconnaissance, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting, as well as strike systems.
Such groups will be dispersed over vast distances, but “at key points.”
The fast movement of such units makes it “uneconomical” to hit them. After completing their mission, they will either avoid combat with an outnumbered enemy or move to safe cover.
Instead of tanks – rubber boats
If artillery in the corps is reduced, then guided missiles and drones will be added. And the effectiveness of the fire impact will increase. Mainly because of drones and ammunition like “Hiro-120”. A portable variant will be received not only by naval drones, but also by mobile units of the Marine Corps.
This is enough to destroy ground vehicles and small ships. Large ships can also be disabled by hitting radars, communications antennas and other key systems.
For the same purpose, the corps intends to use small teams in rubber motorboats armed with Javelin.
All this fits into a broader concept – “Task Management”. Its peculiarity is that they trust the lower ranks to make decisions. Only general instructions are sent above. The advantage of this approach is speed.
Judging by semi-autonomous drones and other similar systems, the next stage may be that not only the lower ranks, but also robots will be able to make decisions.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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