F-35B USMC 2017 "not going to stay the same"
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https://news.usni.org/2017/01/05/interv ... more-23132
Interview: Lt. Gen. Bailey Says F-35, Closer Partnerships Will Enhance Operations in 2017
By: Megan Eckstein
January 5, 2017 6:34 PM
THE PENTAGON – Marine Corps operations are set for some big changes in 2017 with the deployment of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter overseas, a move towards distributed operations as called for in the Marine Corps Operating Concept, and the potential addition of more ships to move Marines around high-threat areas, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations told USNI News. As the Marines’ first operational squadron of F-35Bs prepares to move to Japan in the coming weeks, “we intend to fully incorporate the F-35 into the [U.S. Pacific Command] area of operations,” Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey said in a Dec. 22 interview. “When you start talking the things that it will do in terms of its range, its capacity, I think that will change the whole environment and change how we view not only exercises and operations but how we will train,” he said of the new airplane. “So I call it a crawl, walk, run; we have to get out there and start learning some lessons, which we will. VMFA-121 will go out with 10 aircraft, and six additional aircraft will go out as part of the [31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s fall patrol (USS Wasp LHD-1) from Japan]. So they’ll get out on ground and just start doing what I call familiarization, and then they’ll learn some lessons from that. Then they’ll go and participate in a couple exercises in calendar year ’17; one of the exercises that they’re going to participate in the PACOM region will be in Alaska. … That’ll be approximately 6,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers that will be in the exercise, and it will give them the opportunity to get in the air and test its capability” in a contingency response-type exercise, he said.
The Alaskan exercise, called Exercise Northern Edge, is a U.S.-only biennial exercise that U.S. Pacific Command holds “to replicate the most challenging scenarios in the Pacific theater to ensure joint U.S. forces are trained and prepared to respond to crises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, with over 6,000 U.S. service members and 200 aircraft from across the continental United States and Asian-Pacific,” Bailey’s office explained. Additionally, the F-35 is expected to participate in Exercise Forager Fury in Guam this calendar year, and in Exercises Ssang Yong and Max Thunder in the Republic of Korea, Exercises Pitch Black and Southern Frontier in Australia, and Exercises Forager Fury and Valiant Shield in Guam in 2018.
Bailey said bringing the aircraft to the Pacific allows the squadron to exercise in training ranges much larger than those available at home, and eventually it will allow the squadrons to begin testing interoperability with allies in the area such as Japan and Australia. For the time being, these allies won’t work directly with the F-35B but instead will open their airspace for training purposes. Once the Marine Corps learns best practices and gets farther along in writing tactics, techniques and procedures, then the service will begin sharing lessons learned with its allies – such as Japan and Australia, who are both buying the F-35A conventional take-off variant.
“I think the first thing we have to do is become familiar ourselves and work our way through our own challenges that we have before we start bringing others in,” Bailey said. “Particularly when a new platform is brought in, you want to try to work through your own organizational issues. So the first thing that I would say to you on that is that as a Marine Corps organization we’re going to try to become familiar, make sure we as a squadron or as a group or as a Marine Corps have worked our way through the lessons learned. So we’re going to go through a lot of lessons learned, and then we’ll start sharing those with our allies and our partners and our friends because that prevents a lot of things from going wrong, when you can take those lessons learned and bring [those allies] back in and say, ‘you know we tried this and this doesn’t work.’ Prior to them taking on that platform, we’ve already gone through those challenges.” Though Bailey stressed the need to take it slow in terms of becoming familiar with the airplane, learning the right lessons and then working with other services and other nations in an operational setting, the operational tempo for VMFA-121 will be anything but slow this year. As the service moves towards a focus on distributed operations, the F-35 will play a pivotal role. If each squad or platoon is a node, the F-35 will be the network that connects them, processing and sharing information faster than ever before.
As an example, Bailey said he was at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., to observe an infantry officers course last year, where officers riding in the back of MV-22 Ospreys in a raid scenario had tablets that were tied in to an F-35. Bailey and others observed from a simulated F-35 – a room with multiple computer screens that showed all the information an F-35 pilot would have at his disposal while flying. A Marine in one Osprey could change the plan for the raid based on new information, and that change was sent to both the tablets in the other Ospreys and to the F-35 pilot “The plan changes and I can send him that change in a burst, not try to get on the radio and go through a satellite and come back; I can just send him the exact changes and modifications,” Bailey said. “And so you pull all that capability together, and you can see how that platform will be able to revolutionize the battlefield and give the Marine on the ground a capability that we’ve never had before. I think that’s a game-changer when you start talking distributed operations and you start talking the environment of the future.”
“You want to be able to out-cycle your enemy, and I think this will give us the opportunity to out-cycle our enemy in terms of speed, in terms of application of information that comes in,” he added. The F-35 deployment will also help bridge the Marine Corps and Navy operational forces this year, with the 31st MEU and Wasp Amphibious Ready Group’s fall patrol – the first that will feature F-35s – teaming up with three destroyers to create an “upgunned surface action group.” “I see that as a continuation or a pickup of some things that had gotten away from us because of deployments – being involved in Iraq and Afghanistan was our primary focus over the last 15 years – so we’re kind of going back to our roots and things that we had done before but had gotten away from. You start talking Navy Marine Corps team, combining cruisers (USS Normandy CG-60 NIFC-CA) and destroyers together (with amphibious forces), when you start talking surface action groups – that’s not new, we’re going to pick up. What it will allow us is an opportunity to now, with the Arleigh Burke class new ships, to test out the [command and control] and work through some of the challenges that we will have with the new platform (F-35). So the lessons learned that the squadron has been gaining, we will also apply those when we start the Navy-Marine Corps team amphibious operations,” he said. “You start talking cruisers and destroyers, you’re talking fire capability, the Navy’s top fire control capability. When you have the F-35 fifth-generation platform now, we grew up in this Marine Corps talking combined arms, and we talk it, but now you have this platform that can see and sense and pull everything together, and so that in itself will enhance destroyers and cruisers.”
The Marine Corps also hopes to increase its work with the Navy by finding more ships to put its Marines on. The Navy’s new Force Structure Assessment increased the requirement to 38 amphibs – previously the service had acknowledged the need for 38 but set a fiscally constrained requirement at 31. Though it will takes years for the Navy to grow the size of its amphib fleet, Bailey said work is being done to find more alternate platforms for the Marines to use in the short term, and is making modifications to some ships to allow them to accommodate Marine Corps aircraft such as the MV-22. Bailey said the Marines have to try to deal with “high threat posed areas” such as the Gulf of Guinea and the Mediterranean Sea through land-based units today, and through the Naval Board the service is in talks with the Navy “about what has occurred in terms of change in environment, change in threat. Think about where we were three years ago and where we are today, it’s kind of interesting – Crimea, Ukraine, Sudan, you can just go down the list, not to mention humanitarian (assistance)/disaster relief, threat from Russians in Europe. All these things are different. So the Navy and Marine Corps through the Naval Board, we are able to adapt and respond to the changing nature of the environment.”
As a result of these talks, modifications will be made to the Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) and Expeditionary Transfer Docks USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1) and USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) to accommodate MV-22s. USNI News understands that the modification process on Lewis B. Puller has already begun. Once these modifications are made, the ships might be made available in theater to move Marines around as needed. Marines in 2017 will also benefit from greater collaboration with some allies, as other nations build up their own amphibious forces. Australia in particular will reach an important milestone, deploying its first ARG/MEU this year, and Bailey called their new amphibious force an “outstanding capability” to partner with. “There was a planned approach to make sure that we shared with them our knowledge and expertise on amphibious operations,” he said, noting that former commandant retired Gen. James Amos sent a former MEU commander and then an aviator to Australia as liaisons to inform their ARG/MEU development. “So now we’re talking a partner who has been fighting with us since World War II or before, and you couldn’t ask for a better partner to help the U.S. in its role in the Pacific theater. So I see that as a tremendous opportunity, not only for the U.S. but for the region to assist and help us with security-type operations, assist and help us with theater security or humanitarian (assistance) and disaster relief, when in fact you have another nation out there with an LHD-like capability or with an ARG/MEU-like capability; it may be small in scale but it’s still another amphibious capability that’s out there.”
“There’s nothing like having a strong ally with a common focus,” he added, and said that the U.S. Marines would work with the Australians more and in more domains now as a result of their new capability.
He said the British would also be buying the F-35B for their Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and “I see more amphibious operations in terms of working together” with them as well. Bailey said 2017 would also bring closer relationships with Asian partners like Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as European partners like Norway that can assist the Marine Corps in reestablishing a cold weather capability. Bailey also predicted that 2017 would be shaped by ongoing innovation, particular with 3D printing. “I’m fascinated by the developments and changes that 3D printing is bringing about,” he said. “Yes there are things we’ll have to work through in terms of certification or verification of parts, but just that thinking – I’ll give you an example, years ago (when briefing plans ahead of an operation) you would build little squares of dirt, and you would have a map, and you would build your [terrain map] using dirt and strings. Now … you and I are getting ready to go out on an operation, I’m not going to brief you from a map, I’m going to brief you from a replica of the ground, the buildings and everything that’s on there, to include the windows, due to 3D printing. So that’s just a small example.”
In reflecting on what 2017 will bring for the Marine Corps, Bailey echoed what Commandant Gen. Robert Neller likes to say: “The only thing we’re not going to do is stay the same.”
Interview: Lt. Gen. Bailey Says F-35, Closer Partnerships Will Enhance Operations in 2017
By: Megan Eckstein
January 5, 2017 6:34 PM
THE PENTAGON – Marine Corps operations are set for some big changes in 2017 with the deployment of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter overseas, a move towards distributed operations as called for in the Marine Corps Operating Concept, and the potential addition of more ships to move Marines around high-threat areas, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations told USNI News. As the Marines’ first operational squadron of F-35Bs prepares to move to Japan in the coming weeks, “we intend to fully incorporate the F-35 into the [U.S. Pacific Command] area of operations,” Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey said in a Dec. 22 interview. “When you start talking the things that it will do in terms of its range, its capacity, I think that will change the whole environment and change how we view not only exercises and operations but how we will train,” he said of the new airplane. “So I call it a crawl, walk, run; we have to get out there and start learning some lessons, which we will. VMFA-121 will go out with 10 aircraft, and six additional aircraft will go out as part of the [31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s fall patrol (USS Wasp LHD-1) from Japan]. So they’ll get out on ground and just start doing what I call familiarization, and then they’ll learn some lessons from that. Then they’ll go and participate in a couple exercises in calendar year ’17; one of the exercises that they’re going to participate in the PACOM region will be in Alaska. … That’ll be approximately 6,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers that will be in the exercise, and it will give them the opportunity to get in the air and test its capability” in a contingency response-type exercise, he said.
The Alaskan exercise, called Exercise Northern Edge, is a U.S.-only biennial exercise that U.S. Pacific Command holds “to replicate the most challenging scenarios in the Pacific theater to ensure joint U.S. forces are trained and prepared to respond to crises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, with over 6,000 U.S. service members and 200 aircraft from across the continental United States and Asian-Pacific,” Bailey’s office explained. Additionally, the F-35 is expected to participate in Exercise Forager Fury in Guam this calendar year, and in Exercises Ssang Yong and Max Thunder in the Republic of Korea, Exercises Pitch Black and Southern Frontier in Australia, and Exercises Forager Fury and Valiant Shield in Guam in 2018.
Bailey said bringing the aircraft to the Pacific allows the squadron to exercise in training ranges much larger than those available at home, and eventually it will allow the squadrons to begin testing interoperability with allies in the area such as Japan and Australia. For the time being, these allies won’t work directly with the F-35B but instead will open their airspace for training purposes. Once the Marine Corps learns best practices and gets farther along in writing tactics, techniques and procedures, then the service will begin sharing lessons learned with its allies – such as Japan and Australia, who are both buying the F-35A conventional take-off variant.
“I think the first thing we have to do is become familiar ourselves and work our way through our own challenges that we have before we start bringing others in,” Bailey said. “Particularly when a new platform is brought in, you want to try to work through your own organizational issues. So the first thing that I would say to you on that is that as a Marine Corps organization we’re going to try to become familiar, make sure we as a squadron or as a group or as a Marine Corps have worked our way through the lessons learned. So we’re going to go through a lot of lessons learned, and then we’ll start sharing those with our allies and our partners and our friends because that prevents a lot of things from going wrong, when you can take those lessons learned and bring [those allies] back in and say, ‘you know we tried this and this doesn’t work.’ Prior to them taking on that platform, we’ve already gone through those challenges.” Though Bailey stressed the need to take it slow in terms of becoming familiar with the airplane, learning the right lessons and then working with other services and other nations in an operational setting, the operational tempo for VMFA-121 will be anything but slow this year. As the service moves towards a focus on distributed operations, the F-35 will play a pivotal role. If each squad or platoon is a node, the F-35 will be the network that connects them, processing and sharing information faster than ever before.
As an example, Bailey said he was at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., to observe an infantry officers course last year, where officers riding in the back of MV-22 Ospreys in a raid scenario had tablets that were tied in to an F-35. Bailey and others observed from a simulated F-35 – a room with multiple computer screens that showed all the information an F-35 pilot would have at his disposal while flying. A Marine in one Osprey could change the plan for the raid based on new information, and that change was sent to both the tablets in the other Ospreys and to the F-35 pilot “The plan changes and I can send him that change in a burst, not try to get on the radio and go through a satellite and come back; I can just send him the exact changes and modifications,” Bailey said. “And so you pull all that capability together, and you can see how that platform will be able to revolutionize the battlefield and give the Marine on the ground a capability that we’ve never had before. I think that’s a game-changer when you start talking distributed operations and you start talking the environment of the future.”
“You want to be able to out-cycle your enemy, and I think this will give us the opportunity to out-cycle our enemy in terms of speed, in terms of application of information that comes in,” he added. The F-35 deployment will also help bridge the Marine Corps and Navy operational forces this year, with the 31st MEU and Wasp Amphibious Ready Group’s fall patrol – the first that will feature F-35s – teaming up with three destroyers to create an “upgunned surface action group.” “I see that as a continuation or a pickup of some things that had gotten away from us because of deployments – being involved in Iraq and Afghanistan was our primary focus over the last 15 years – so we’re kind of going back to our roots and things that we had done before but had gotten away from. You start talking Navy Marine Corps team, combining cruisers (USS Normandy CG-60 NIFC-CA) and destroyers together (with amphibious forces), when you start talking surface action groups – that’s not new, we’re going to pick up. What it will allow us is an opportunity to now, with the Arleigh Burke class new ships, to test out the [command and control] and work through some of the challenges that we will have with the new platform (F-35). So the lessons learned that the squadron has been gaining, we will also apply those when we start the Navy-Marine Corps team amphibious operations,” he said. “You start talking cruisers and destroyers, you’re talking fire capability, the Navy’s top fire control capability. When you have the F-35 fifth-generation platform now, we grew up in this Marine Corps talking combined arms, and we talk it, but now you have this platform that can see and sense and pull everything together, and so that in itself will enhance destroyers and cruisers.”
The Marine Corps also hopes to increase its work with the Navy by finding more ships to put its Marines on. The Navy’s new Force Structure Assessment increased the requirement to 38 amphibs – previously the service had acknowledged the need for 38 but set a fiscally constrained requirement at 31. Though it will takes years for the Navy to grow the size of its amphib fleet, Bailey said work is being done to find more alternate platforms for the Marines to use in the short term, and is making modifications to some ships to allow them to accommodate Marine Corps aircraft such as the MV-22. Bailey said the Marines have to try to deal with “high threat posed areas” such as the Gulf of Guinea and the Mediterranean Sea through land-based units today, and through the Naval Board the service is in talks with the Navy “about what has occurred in terms of change in environment, change in threat. Think about where we were three years ago and where we are today, it’s kind of interesting – Crimea, Ukraine, Sudan, you can just go down the list, not to mention humanitarian (assistance)/disaster relief, threat from Russians in Europe. All these things are different. So the Navy and Marine Corps through the Naval Board, we are able to adapt and respond to the changing nature of the environment.”
As a result of these talks, modifications will be made to the Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) and Expeditionary Transfer Docks USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1) and USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) to accommodate MV-22s. USNI News understands that the modification process on Lewis B. Puller has already begun. Once these modifications are made, the ships might be made available in theater to move Marines around as needed. Marines in 2017 will also benefit from greater collaboration with some allies, as other nations build up their own amphibious forces. Australia in particular will reach an important milestone, deploying its first ARG/MEU this year, and Bailey called their new amphibious force an “outstanding capability” to partner with. “There was a planned approach to make sure that we shared with them our knowledge and expertise on amphibious operations,” he said, noting that former commandant retired Gen. James Amos sent a former MEU commander and then an aviator to Australia as liaisons to inform their ARG/MEU development. “So now we’re talking a partner who has been fighting with us since World War II or before, and you couldn’t ask for a better partner to help the U.S. in its role in the Pacific theater. So I see that as a tremendous opportunity, not only for the U.S. but for the region to assist and help us with security-type operations, assist and help us with theater security or humanitarian (assistance) and disaster relief, when in fact you have another nation out there with an LHD-like capability or with an ARG/MEU-like capability; it may be small in scale but it’s still another amphibious capability that’s out there.”
“There’s nothing like having a strong ally with a common focus,” he added, and said that the U.S. Marines would work with the Australians more and in more domains now as a result of their new capability.
He said the British would also be buying the F-35B for their Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and “I see more amphibious operations in terms of working together” with them as well. Bailey said 2017 would also bring closer relationships with Asian partners like Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as European partners like Norway that can assist the Marine Corps in reestablishing a cold weather capability. Bailey also predicted that 2017 would be shaped by ongoing innovation, particular with 3D printing. “I’m fascinated by the developments and changes that 3D printing is bringing about,” he said. “Yes there are things we’ll have to work through in terms of certification or verification of parts, but just that thinking – I’ll give you an example, years ago (when briefing plans ahead of an operation) you would build little squares of dirt, and you would have a map, and you would build your [terrain map] using dirt and strings. Now … you and I are getting ready to go out on an operation, I’m not going to brief you from a map, I’m going to brief you from a replica of the ground, the buildings and everything that’s on there, to include the windows, due to 3D printing. So that’s just a small example.”
In reflecting on what 2017 will bring for the Marine Corps, Bailey echoed what Commandant Gen. Robert Neller likes to say: “The only thing we’re not going to do is stay the same.”
Last edited by neptune on 07 Jan 2017, 00:13, edited 1 time in total.
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OMG this is a popular article first posted excerpts here but what the hey at 20:36:
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=28931&p=359658#p359658
THEN AGAIN HERE summarized succinctly: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=50736&p=359659&hilit=notable#p359659
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=28931&p=359658#p359658
THEN AGAIN HERE summarized succinctly: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=50736&p=359659&hilit=notable#p359659
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I'm encouraged by the participation in the multi-cultural exercises and the bi-directional learning of our forces with our allies. The development of tactics and SOPs with logistics will greatly advance this renaissance in tactical aviation.
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Tne Navy got to learn new stuff with the recent deployment of the enhanced Surface Action Group. Hope they liked the Kangaroo meat,
https://news.usni.org/2017/01/19/next-p ... more-23313
Next PAC SAG May Be Multinational; Vinson Strike Group To Continue ‘3rd Fleet Forward’ Ops
The Navy will take lessons learned from the 2016 deployment of a three-destroyer Pacific Fleet Surface Action Group (PAC SAG) that remained under U.S. 3rd Fleet command and stretch itself further, deploying a full carrier strike group under 3rd Fleet command and potentially forming a multinational “PAC SAG 2” this summer.
3rd Fleet Chief of Staff Capt. John Beaver said last week at the annual Surface Navy Association conference that last year’s deployment of USS Momsen (DDG-92), USS Spruance (DDG-111) and USS Decatur (DDG-73) was a good first step in learning how to project power outside the carrier strike group concept and in creating alternate command and control (C2) relationships...
His panelists – the destroyer squadron commander and three destroyer commanding officers involved in last year’s PAC SAG – said the deployment went smoothly on their level, though they relied heavily on international partners for support. For example, without an oiler or supply ship attached to their group, as might be the case with an aircraft carrier, the destroyers often refueled from allies’ oilers, primarily from the Australian navy. They also were told at one point to order food and supplies from the Australian Navy logistics organization.
“It was a PACFLT initiative, the PACFLT supply officer wanted us as we were operating forward to be able to order from kangaroo meat, whatever, all those wonderful things that the Australian Navy has in their supply organization, Destroyer Squadron 31 commodore Capt. Charles Johnson said during the discussion.
“How do we order from them? That was one of the failures, but we got into that and the supply folks are figuring it out now.”...
Additionally, Beaver said 3rd Fleet stood up a new flag-level organization – Commander, Task Force 30 – to command future “3rd Fleet Forward” deployments, where ships deploying from San Diego remain under 3rd Fleet operational control even after passing the International Date Line, where they’d normally move to 7th Fleet control. The 2016 PAC SAG was the first group to do this, and “It has been awesome because we’ve failed at every turn. It’s been such a rich learning environment. We’ve had communications issues, we’ve had integration issues… [Learning] that’s what this is all about,”
more...
https://news.usni.org/2017/01/19/next-p ... more-23313
Next PAC SAG May Be Multinational; Vinson Strike Group To Continue ‘3rd Fleet Forward’ Ops
The Navy will take lessons learned from the 2016 deployment of a three-destroyer Pacific Fleet Surface Action Group (PAC SAG) that remained under U.S. 3rd Fleet command and stretch itself further, deploying a full carrier strike group under 3rd Fleet command and potentially forming a multinational “PAC SAG 2” this summer.
3rd Fleet Chief of Staff Capt. John Beaver said last week at the annual Surface Navy Association conference that last year’s deployment of USS Momsen (DDG-92), USS Spruance (DDG-111) and USS Decatur (DDG-73) was a good first step in learning how to project power outside the carrier strike group concept and in creating alternate command and control (C2) relationships...
His panelists – the destroyer squadron commander and three destroyer commanding officers involved in last year’s PAC SAG – said the deployment went smoothly on their level, though they relied heavily on international partners for support. For example, without an oiler or supply ship attached to their group, as might be the case with an aircraft carrier, the destroyers often refueled from allies’ oilers, primarily from the Australian navy. They also were told at one point to order food and supplies from the Australian Navy logistics organization.
“It was a PACFLT initiative, the PACFLT supply officer wanted us as we were operating forward to be able to order from kangaroo meat, whatever, all those wonderful things that the Australian Navy has in their supply organization, Destroyer Squadron 31 commodore Capt. Charles Johnson said during the discussion.
“How do we order from them? That was one of the failures, but we got into that and the supply folks are figuring it out now.”...
Additionally, Beaver said 3rd Fleet stood up a new flag-level organization – Commander, Task Force 30 – to command future “3rd Fleet Forward” deployments, where ships deploying from San Diego remain under 3rd Fleet operational control even after passing the International Date Line, where they’d normally move to 7th Fleet control. The 2016 PAC SAG was the first group to do this, and “It has been awesome because we’ve failed at every turn. It’s been such a rich learning environment. We’ve had communications issues, we’ve had integration issues… [Learning] that’s what this is all about,”
more...
"When a fifth-generation fighter meets a fourth-generation fighter—the [latter] dies,”
CSAF Gen. Mark Welsh
CSAF Gen. Mark Welsh
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Kangaroo MEET? Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport by disgraced ROFL Harris (this is serious - he is in prison in UK) but anyway talking about songs (nice segue) this article reminds me of "I GOT YOU BABE"* by Sonny & CHER of ye olde tymes.... 
This is a L O N G article so BEst to read it all at URL provided below. *F-35B got the USN backs for now
This is a L O N G article so BEst to read it all at URL provided below. *F-35B got the USN backs for nowMarine Aviation, Weapons Upgrades Would Support Advance Base Operations
30 Jan 2017 Megan Eckstein
"A future naval campaign against an enemy armed with long-range precision weapons will require the Navy and Marine Corps to disaggregate, creating temporal sea and air control with small units that can move from the sea to the shore and back again to meet an objective and then move on to the next task.
This type of maneuver warfare – which relies on expeditionary advance base operations – is supported by some new weapons and platforms coming into the fleet, but other innovations will still be required for the sea services to be successful in this type of operating environment, officials have said.
Director of Expeditionary Warfare Maj. Gen. Christopher Owens (OPNAV N95), while giving a talk with his surface warfare counterpart earlier this month, said Marine Corps aviation advances will help the green forces contribute more to sea and air control.
“We often talk, especially in the aviation world, about BISOG — Blue in support of Green. In amphibious operations what that usually means is the Navy getting the Marines in position to land a landing force,” Owens said during his talk at the Surface Navy Association annual symposium.
“However, our ability to integrate into a truly naval force is growing, and it’s going to continue to do so into the future. And it’s time we start talking more about Green in support of Blue. So what do I mean by that? … Beginning in 2018 we will deploy F-35Bs from our big-deck amphibs. And this isn’t just about using stealth to drop bombs or take on enemy fighters; the F-35B is a flying broad area sensor and a sensor-fusion system, and it’s going to open up possibilities the naval force has not had before. And we’re going to have those aircraft out aboard our amphibs several years before we have them aboard the carriers. Second, the range, speed and capability of our MV-22s will open up huge areas of the sea previously out of reach to seaborne forces, and this is going to allow our ships to maintain greater standoff while increasing the speed and unpredictability of our maneuver. They can help us find or create seams and gaps, too many perhaps for an enemy to encounter. And the more sea space we can cover, the more options we generate and the more we complicate and enemy’s problem-solving. Finally, our Marines and Navy expeditionary forces can go ashore to remove a threat, provide fires in support of sea control, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, or establish advance bases, rearm-refuel points for aircraft or logistics staging areas. We can deceive the enemy, we can seize or hold at-risk something he values, force him to react to us and draw him into our engagement range.”...
...Though some platforms like the V-22 and F-35B are already being fielded, and the Marine Corps has ongoing efforts in the areas of weapons and ship-to-shore maneuver facilitators that would boost this type of warfare, Corbett said innovation in other areas is still needed. The Pentagon is working on new land-based anti-ship missiles, and Corbett said land-based anti-air capabilities would also be helpful. Additionally, unidirectional communications such as millimeter wave or laser communications would allow forces to coordinate within the EM spectrum without giving away their location. And while EABO and distributed operations solves a problem for operators, it creates one for logisticians, Corbett said, noting that innovation in the areas of unmanned systems and more could help direct supplies to a dispersed and on-the-move force."
Source: https://news.usni.org/2017/01/30/marine ... operations
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"Additionally, unidirectional communications such as millimeter wave or laser communications would allow forces to coordinate within the EM spectrum without giving away their location."
The US has experimented with laser communications between spacecraft. I do not know if such a system is operational or not. However, atmospheric effects would seem to hamper laser comms between surface units. However, the MASER actually was demonstrated before the LASER. I have long wondered when masers might come into play. Some recent advances have opened the door to get past some operational shortcomings in the original maser. So perhaps in the next 10-30 years masers will enable just this sort of stealthy communication.
On the other hand, MADL is stealthy, and does not rely on masers, so perhaps they will just remain a pipe dream.
Take an F-16, stir in A-7, dollop of F-117, gob of F-22, dash of F/A-18, sprinkle with AV-8B, stir well + bake. Whaddya get? F-35.
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steve2267 wrote:"Additionally, unidirectional communications such as millimeter wave or laser communications would allow forces to coordinate within the EM spectrum without giving away their location."
The US has experimented with laser communications between spacecraft. I do not know if such a system is operational or not. However, atmospheric effects would seem to hamper laser comms between surface units. However, the MASER actually was demonstrated before the LASER. I have long wondered when masers might come into play. Some recent advances have opened the door to get past some operational shortcomings in the original maser. So perhaps in the next 10-30 years masers will enable just this sort of stealthy communication.
On the other hand, MADL is stealthy, and does not rely on masers, so perhaps they will just remain a pipe dream.
Wouldn't a maser still be more susceptible to interception by standard ELINT gear if beam collimation is off, compared to laser - due to working on more "common" frequencies?
Or am I missing something?
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juretrn wrote:steve2267 wrote:"Additionally, unidirectional communications such as millimeter wave or laser communications would allow forces to coordinate within the EM spectrum without giving away their location."
The US has experimented with laser communications between spacecraft. I do not know if such a system is operational or not. However, atmospheric effects would seem to hamper laser comms between surface units. However, the MASER actually was demonstrated before the LASER. I have long wondered when masers might come into play. Some recent advances have opened the door to get past some operational shortcomings in the original maser. So perhaps in the next 10-30 years masers will enable just this sort of stealthy communication.
On the other hand, MADL is stealthy, and does not rely on masers, so perhaps they will just remain a pipe dream.
Wouldn't a maser still be more susceptible to interception by standard ELINT gear if beam collimation is off, compared to laser - due to working on more "common" frequencies?
Or am I missing something?
You've got me. I'm working on the (probably fairly simple assumption) that a maser would have just as tight a beam as a laser, but operating in RF (microwave?) frequencies, rather than the visible light spectrum. I imagine some of that "maser beam" will "splash" off the intended receiver. Will that "splash" become detectable? I don't know.
As to beam collimation being off... I would think it would still be a lot tighter than what you get from a "normal" microwave or millimeter wave transmitter? But then again... this LPI stuff on radars seems magical.
Take an F-16, stir in A-7, dollop of F-117, gob of F-22, dash of F/A-18, sprinkle with AV-8B, stir well + bake. Whaddya get? F-35.
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In the spirit of this F-35B thread title bits of the article are posted here although it could go in a NIFCA-CA thread for USN.
Lockheed Martin: F-35/NIFC-CA Live Fire Test In 2018; LRASM Flight Tests This Year [LONG ARTICLE!]
22 Mar 2017 Megan Eckstein
"ARLINGTON, Va. — Lockheed Martin plans to conduct a live-fire test of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter directing an Aegis Combat System engagement next year, as well as the first flight of the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare missile at the end of this year, both to bolster the Navy’s distributed lethality concept.
The Joint Strike Fighter already paired with the Aegis Combat System – and the weapons and data links that collectively make up the Naval Integrated Fire Control- Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability – in September 2016. A Marine Corps F-35B observed and tracked a target and sent the track information to the Navy’s USS Desert Ship (LLS-1) test platform running the Baseline 9 Aegis Combat System. Desert Ship then launched a Standard Missile-6 to kill the threat, while relying solely on the targeting data from the F-35.
At Lockheed Martin’s annual media day event today, director of Aegis programs Jim Sheridan said the company was working with the F-35 Joint Program Office and the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) to bring that Joint Strike Fighter/NIFC-CA pairing to sea.... [suck on that USN]
...To get from where the F-35/NIFC-CA integration is today to the maturity needed for a successful at-sea demonstration, Sheridan said the company needed to work on “modeling and simulation and making sure that we close the fire control loop,” as well as understanding how to physically integrate the two. For example, NIFC-CA generally relies on the Link-16 data link to connect the ships, planes and weapons involved in the detect-to-kill process. F-35, however, uses a Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) instead, which would require a new antenna on the destroyers that will launch a missile based on what the F-35B senses. Sheridan said Lockheed Martin has conceptual designs for where to put the MADL antenna on the ship but needs to refine and test those ideas....
...Sheridan said pairing the F-35 with NIFC-CA – compared to using the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye or other aircraft – “is just heads and shoulders above anything else we’ve been seeing.”...
Source: https://news.usni.org/2017/03/22/lockhe ... -this-year
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spazsinbad wrote:In the spirit of this F-35B thread title bits of the article are posted here although it could go in a NIFCA-CA thread for USN.Lockheed Martin: F-35/NIFC-CA Live Fire Test In 2018; LRASM Flight Tests This Year [LONG ARTICLE!]
22 Mar 2017 Megan Eckstein
...Sheridan said pairing the F-35 with NIFC-CA – compared to using the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye or other aircraft – “is just heads and shoulders above anything else we’ve been seeing.”...
Source: https://news.usni.org/2017/03/22/lockhe ... -this-year
A lot to unpack in that statement. The E-2D is the best of the old way of doing things and the F-35 is the new kid on the block who won't be bound by tradition.
"When a fifth-generation fighter meets a fourth-generation fighter—the [latter] dies,”
CSAF Gen. Mark Welsh
CSAF Gen. Mark Welsh
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Neller: Marine Corps Not Trained and Equipped for Future Fight
22 Mar 2017 RICHARD R. BURGESS
"WASHINGTON — The commandant of the Marine Corps said the service needs to speed up developing capability for a future conflict, one that will require more agile electronic and information warfare capability. “We’ve got to get ready for the future kind of fight,” said Gen. Robert B. Neller, speaking March 22 at a Defense Programs Conference sponsored by McAleese and Associates. “There is no ‘inter-war period.’ There is no break here.” Neller said a future conflict will involve contested domain, complex terrain, technological proliferation, information as a weapon and a battle of signatures....
...Neller praised the F-35B Lighting II strike fighter and its future. “We know the aircraft has not reached its full potential yet,” he said.
Neller stated without reservation that he believes the nation still needs a forcible-entry capability that the Marine Corps has provided over the course of its history. He said the F-35B, MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and amphibious warfare ships give the Corps that capability, and that technology such as the Tomahawk missile could be added to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship to boost that capability."
Source: http://seapowermagazine.org/stories/201 ... eller.html
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Again in the spirit of 'not going to stay the same' here is an overview of what retired Gen Davis thinks about USMC EW.
Lt. General (Retired) Davis Focuses on Distributed Electronic Warfare Capabilities
31 Aug 2017 Robbin Laird
"...[Lt. General (Retired) Jon Davis, the former Deputy Commandant of Aviation] described the USMC transition from a core aircraft delivering an EW effect to building out the MAGTF to include ubiquitous access to non-kinetic tron warfare capabilities.... [description with graphic]
...Davis underscored that with the changing nature of warfare and how the Marines operate, shaping a distributed strategy was a necessity, not an option. “We operate on ships, from ships to shore and ashore. “We cannot simply have an on call EW asset. “We can confront the threat requiring an EW capability anywhere we operate.”
He described the sun setting of the unique EW aircraft, the Prowler, in favor of a sequential role out of distributed capability to the MAGTF. He focused initially on Intrepid Tiger which is an EW pod being incorporated the Marine Corps legacy air.... [then description of 'tiger' & upgradeability]
...The Marines are deploying the F-35 at the same time, which is a core capability for the USMC in delivering non-kinetic effects throughout the distributed force as well. “The F-35 is part of our electronic warfare strategy for the United States Marine Corps. Indeed, it is a key part of our strategy.”
He then described an exercise involving the F-35. “We were doing a drill, and the F-35 does a great job at a lot of things. “It does a very good job in terms of electronic warfare as well.... [description]
...“I said, we have to remove the admirals and the generals out of the kill chain. “If the pilots have got the right RoE, let them loose. “If you inject too many decision makers from on high, you’re going to get Solders, Sailors and Airmen killed.”
Davis added: “We’re going to grow the F-35; We’re going to be very aggressive about growing capabilities in the F-35. It’s good at what it does right now; it’ll be a hell of a lot better in the future.” He then went on to describe other roll-outs of evolving EW capability for the MAGTF....
...Lt. General (Retired) Davis from the floor added his thoughts on how integration is proceeding in the US.
He sees the schools, MAWTS-1, Nellis and Fallon as key elements in shaping an integrated force. He mentioned that a Marine is for the first time teaching at Nellis and a USAF pilot is training at MAWTS-1 and will be an instructor there as well. “The more we learn from each other, the better we will be.”
And then CDR Paul added that it remains to be seen how the US Navy will employ the F-35 but that cross learning from the USMC and the USAF will be crucial in this process."Graphic: “MAGTF EW transitions the Marine Corps from a focus on low density/high demand EW platforms, to a distributed, platform-agnostic strategy - where every platform contributes/functions as a sensor, shooter and sharer - to include EW. Under MAGTF EW the Marine Corps is leveraging emerging technologies and integrating multiple platforms, payloads, nodes, and capabilities to provide commanders with an organic and persistent air and ground EW capability.” http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploa ... age_04.jpgPDF of presentation: https://www.slideshare.net/robbinlaird/ ... ic-warfare (0.5Mb)
Source: http://www.sldinfo.com/lt-general-retir ... abilities/
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Again in the spirit of USMC 'not going to stay same' there is a document about littoral warfare but not yet found as a PDF.
Document: Marine Corps Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment Concept 26 Sep 2017
https://news.usni.org/2017/09/26/docume ... nt-concept
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Open Your Eyes and See the 21st Century MAGTF Scott Cuomo, Jeff Cummings, Olivia Garard & Noah Spataro 26 Sep 2017
Go here for more: https://warontherocks.com/2017/09/open- ... ury-magtf/
Document: Marine Corps Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment Concept 26 Sep 2017
https://news.usni.org/2017/09/26/docume ... nt-concept
_____________________________
Open Your Eyes and See the 21st Century MAGTF Scott Cuomo, Jeff Cummings, Olivia Garard & Noah Spataro 26 Sep 2017
Go here for more: https://warontherocks.com/2017/09/open- ... ury-magtf/
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Hi Spaz, thanks for the USMC document link.
Where the USMC is investing in austere expeditionary bases and F-35s to maintain its abilities, other western powers might be deemphasizing opposed landings. The UK's Royal Marines are possibly going to be cut by 1,000 (out of 7,760, including a band) positions. Some bloggers have recommended the Royal Marines focus more on traditional maritime roles like embarking on ships and engaging in shore raiding and dropping the WWII/Inchon style brigade landing role.
The UK has lower total and per capita defense spending than the US with its $700 billion appropriations bill that passed the Senate. Militarily, the UK faces the same issues with anti-access weapons that the US faces. With the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean retiring/for sale and being replaced by the expensive fixed wing carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, opposed landings put very expensive ships at great risk. Why should a smaller navy than China/Russia/US play the opposed landings game?
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/pl ... ked-520427
Where the USMC is investing in austere expeditionary bases and F-35s to maintain its abilities, other western powers might be deemphasizing opposed landings. The UK's Royal Marines are possibly going to be cut by 1,000 (out of 7,760, including a band) positions. Some bloggers have recommended the Royal Marines focus more on traditional maritime roles like embarking on ships and engaging in shore raiding and dropping the WWII/Inchon style brigade landing role.
The UK has lower total and per capita defense spending than the US with its $700 billion appropriations bill that passed the Senate. Militarily, the UK faces the same issues with anti-access weapons that the US faces. With the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean retiring/for sale and being replaced by the expensive fixed wing carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, opposed landings put very expensive ships at great risk. Why should a smaller navy than China/Russia/US play the opposed landings game?
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/pl ... ked-520427
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I think there are plenty of articles over on the 'UK Mod in a Muddle' thread about how the UK armed forces are not going to be like the USMC/USN doing what they do. In concert with them and other allies they may participate but on their own they are not going to do that stuff you describe. However they do have other roles with equipment/conops to suit them.
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