MEDITERRANEAN SEA — For the third time in two months, Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while intercepting a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft in the U.S. Sixth Fleet on May 26, the 6th Fleet said in a release. 

“On May 26, a U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft was flying in the eastern Mediterranean over international waters and was intercepted by two Russian Su-35 aircraft over a period of 65 minutes,” the release said. “The intercept was determined to be unsafe and unprofessional due to the Russian pilots taking close station on each wing of the P-8A simultaneously, restricting the P-8A’s ability to safely maneuver. 

“The unnecessary actions of the Russian Su-35 pilots were inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules and jeopardized the safety of flight of both aircraft. 

“While the Russian aircraft was operating in international airspace, this interaction was irresponsible. We expect them to operate within international standards set to ensure safety and to prevent incidents, including the 1972 Agreement for the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High Seas (INCSEA). Actions‎ like these increase the potential for midair collisions. 

“This incident follows two unsafe interactions in April, over the same waters. 

“In all cases, the U.S. aircraft were operating in international airspace, consistent with international law, with due regard for safety of flight, and did not provoke this Russian activity.”

HOUSTON — The technology group Wärtsilä has completed replacement of the Ship Analytics simulator solution at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Ship Control and Navigation Training System (SCANTS) facility, the company said in a release. 

The original simulator system was installed at the academy in the 1990s, and the replacement work was carried out primarily by, and in partnership with, NavSim Services Inc., the prime contractor. 

The upgrade was accomplished in two stages to accommodate the operational training schedule of the academy and to fit within the academic breaks. The primary purpose of SCANTS is bridge training for academy cadets and officers preparing to take command of their own cutters. The training emphasis is on navigation, piloting and collision avoidance. 

However, the inclusion of specialty modules within the Wärtsilä simulator solution also enables highly advanced training in naval operations, search and rescue, and other operational activities unique to the mission of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The advanced Wärtsilä system consists of two full mission navigation and ship-handling bridges, three additional part task bridges and five separate yet interconnected instructor stations, designed to provide the instructors and operators with the maximum flexibility in accomplishing their training missions.

Designed to provide trainees with a realistic perception of operating in a real-life shipboard environment, the simulator complex uses an advanced physics engine and high-fidelity hydrodynamic vessel modelling capabilities to replicate the behavior of vessels in various sea states, and at all speeds and environmental conditions.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations announced the following assignments in a May 22 release: 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Bradley J. Andros will be assigned as deputy director of plans and policy for countering weapons of mass destruction, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Andros previously served as Navy Expeditionary Combat Branch head, N957, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Mark D. Behning is serving as deputy director, strategic targeting and nuclear mission planning, J5, U.S. Strategic Command, Omaha. Behning previously served as chief of staff/deputy director for Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Kevin P. Byrne is serving as commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, and commander, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Washington, D.C. Byrne previously served as major program manager, surface ships, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Joseph F. Cahill III is serving as deputy director for resources and acquisition, J8, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. Cahill previously served as executive assistant, N9, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Lawrence F. Legree will be assigned as assistant chief of staff, J-3, Joint Forces Command, Naples, Italy. Legree previously served as senior adviser for nuclear security affairs, Office of the Secretary, Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.   

Rear Adm. (lower half) Mark A. Melson is serving as deputy director, joint force development and design integration, J7, Joint Staff. Melson previously served as executive assistant to the deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategy, N3N5, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Marc J. Miguez is serving as deputy director for operations, National Joint Operations Intelligence Center, Operations Team Two, J3, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. Miguez previously served as executive assistant, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Kurt J. Rothenhaus is serving as program executive officer for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego. Rothenhaus previously served as major program manager for tactical networks, San Diego. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Michael S. Sciretta will be assigned as deputy commander, Joint Interagency Task Force-South, U.S. Southern Command, Key West, Florida.  Sciretta previously served as director, Navy Senate Liaison, Office of Legislative Affairs, Washington, D.C. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Richard E. Seif Jr. will be assigned as commander, Undersea Warfighting Development Center, Groton, Connecticut. Seif is serving as deputy commander for Task Force One Four/Three Four and Task Group 114.3, U.S. Strategic Command, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Darryl L. Walker is serving as deputy director, operations, J3, U.S. Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Maryland. Walker previously served as executive assistant to the chief of naval operations, Washington, D.C.  

Rear Adm. (lower half) Robert D. Westendorff will be assigned as chief of naval air training, Corpus Christi, Texas. Westendorff previously served as chief of staff, Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, San Diego. 

Capt. Susan BryerJoyner, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as Navy Cyber Security Division director, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C. BryerJoyner is serving as Cyber Security Division chief, N2N6, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. 

Capt. Matthew J. Burns, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as assistant commander, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. Burns is serving as commander, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia.   

Capt. Brian L. Davies, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), is serving as special assistant to commander, Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tennessee. Davies previously served as director, submarine/nuclear power distribution (PERS 42), Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tennessee. 

Capt. Dion D. English, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as director, logistics, fleet supply and ordnance, N4, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. English is serving as deputy director, supply and distribution, J44, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.   

Capt. Rick Freedman, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as director, medical systems integration and combat survivability, N44, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C. Freedman is serving as executive assistant to the Surgeon General of the Navy, Falls Church, Virginia. 

Capt. Thomas M. Henderschedt, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), is serving as naval attaché, Beijing, China. 

Capt. Cynthia A. Kuehner, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as commander, Navy Medical Forces Support Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Kuehner is serving as head, Commander’s Action Group, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Falls Church, Virginia. 

Capt. Jason M. Lloyd, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), is serving as deputy commander for ship design, integration and engineering, SEA-05, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. Lloyd previously served as commanding officer, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia. 

Capt. Howard B. Markle, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), is serving as deputy commander, logistics, maintenance and industrial operations (NAVSEA 04), Naval Sea Systems Command. Markle previously served as executive assistant, Naval Sea Systems Command. 

Capt. Elizabeth S. Okano, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as program executive officer for integrated warfare systems, Washington, D.C. Okano is serving as executive assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy (research, development and acquisition), Washington, D.C. 

Capt. Matthew N. Ott III, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as special assistant for audit readiness, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller), Washington, D.C. Ott is serving as chief of staff, Naval Supply Systems Command, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Capt. Carlos A. Sardiello, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as director, joint/fleet operations, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia. Sardiello is serving as commanding officer, USS Theodore Roosevelt, San Diego, and previously served as special assistant to commander, naval air forces/commander, naval air force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. 

Capt. Derek A. Trinque, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), is serving as assistant commander for career management, PERS-4, Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tennessee. Trinque previously served as director, Surface Warfare Officer Distribution Division (PERS 41), Millington, Tennessee.   

Capt. John A. Watkins, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as deputy commander, 10th Fleet, Fort Meade, Maryland. Watkins is serving as chief of staff, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet, Fort Meade, Maryland. 

Capt. Thomas R. Williams II, selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as director, global integration and engagement, N5I, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Williams previously served as executive assistant to the chief of naval operations.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale to Taiwan of submarine-launched torpedoes, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a release. 

DSCA said that Congress has been notified of the potential sale of torpedoes to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), which represents Taiwan’s interests in the United States. 

TECRO has requested to buy 18 Mk48 Mod 6 Advanced Technology Heavy-Weight Torpedoes, as well as spare parts, support and test equipment, shipping and shipping containers, operator manuals, technical documentation, training, U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services and other related elements of logistics support, the DSCA said, with a total estimated program cost of $180 million. 

“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability in current and future defensive efforts,” the release said. “The recipient will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen homeland defense. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”  

DSCA said that there are no prime contractors associated with this case because all material will be delivered straight from U.S. Navy stocks.  

The Mk48 torpedo is now back in production for the U.S. Navy after a gap in procurement.  

The Republic of China Navy in Taiwan operates two Chien-Lung diesel-electric submarines based on the Dutch Zwaardvis design as well as two old U.S. diesel-electric submarines for training. 

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle with a Solid State Laser-Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) Mk 2 Mod 0 on May 16, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a release. 

LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon system demonstrator developed by the Office of Naval Research and installed on the Portland for an at-sea demonstration. LWSD’s operational employment on a Pacific Fleet ship is the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser. The laser system was developed by Northrup Grumman, with full system and ship integration and testing led by NSWC Dahlgren and Port Hueneme.   

“By conducting advanced at-sea tests against UAVs and small craft, we will gain valuable information on the capabilities of the Solid-State Laser Weapons System Demonstrator against potential threats,” said Capt. Karrey Sanders, commanding officer of the USS Portland. 

The U.S. Navy has been developing directed-energy weapons (DEWs), to include lasers, since the 1960s. DEWs are defined as electromagnetic systems capable of converting chemical or electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it on a target, resulting in physical damage that degrades, neutralizes, defeats, or destroys an adversary. 

Navy ships face an increasing number of threats in conducting their missions, including UAVs, armed small boats and adversary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. The Navy’s development of DEWs like the LWSD, provide immediate warfighter benefits and provide the commander increased decision space and response options. 

“The Solid-State Laser Weapons System Demonstrator is a unique capability the Portland gets to test and operate for the Navy, while paving the way for future weapons systems,” Sanders said. “With this new advanced capability, we are redefining war at sea for the Navy.”

MOBILE, Ala. — The future USS Oakland successfully concluded acceptance trials on May 22 following a series of in-port and underway demonstrations in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office-Unmanned and Small Combatants said in a release. 

During trials, the final milestone prior to the ship’s delivery, the Navy conducts comprehensive tests of systems, including those essential to a ship’s performance at sea such as the main propulsion, auxiliaries and electrical systems. 

The ship also performed critical capability tests, including a full-power demonstration, steering and quick reversal, anchor drop test and combat system detect-to-engage sequence. 

See: USS Kansas City Arrives at San Diego Homeport Before Commissioning

“I am impressed with the positive results achieved by the Navy and industry team during this acceptance trial of the future USS Oakland,” said Littoral Combat Ship Program Manager Capt. Mike Taylor. “We continue to see improvements in this class as we work to provide cost-effective warfighting capability to the fleet and the nation.” 

Following delivery and commissioning, USS Oakland will sail to California to be homeported in San Diego with sister ships USS Independence, USS Coronado, USS Jackson, USS Montgomery, USS Gabrielle Giffords, USS Omaha, USS Manchester, USS Tulsa, USS Charleston, USS Cincinnati and USS Kansas City. 

Four additional Independence-variant ships are under construction at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. The future USS Mobile is undergoing final assembly. The modules for the future USS Savannah and future USS Canberra also are being erected, and modules for the future USS Santa Barbara are being fabricated. Additionally, Austal USA is preparing for construction of the future USS Augusta, USS Kingsville and USS Pierre. 

Littoral combat ships are highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. The Independence-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to affordably support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littorals. 

LCS is now the second-largest Navy surface ship class in production. In 2019, three LCSs were delivered to the fleet and five will be delivered in 2020 at a pace not seen since the 1990s.

BOSTON — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba returned home to Boston on May 23 following a 62-day patrol in support of Operation Martillo in the western Caribbean, the Coast Guard 1st District said in a release. 

Escanaba’s crew seized nearly 2,000 kilograms of cocaine, valued at $60 million, while working with an armed helicopter interdiction tactical squadron onboard and local Panamanian law enforcement. 

Escanaba’s crew also located a disabled boat 100 miles north of Colombia in 14-foot seas and 35 mph winds. The crew launched its small boat team and rescued the four crew members stranded aboard the boat. Escanaba’s crew transferred the survivors to the Colombian navy. 

“I am extremely proud of the crew for their extraordinary dedication and professionalism throughout this patrol during an unprecedented time,” said Cmdr. Mike Nalli, commanding officer of the Escanaba. “We overcame numerous challenges to focus on mission execution and achieve excellent results in support of [U.S. Southern Command’s] national objectives.”  

Operation Martillo is a multinational detection, monitoring and interdiction operation that consists of 20 participating nations working together to counter transnational organized crime networks and illicit trafficking in the waters along Central America. 

Escanaba is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter with a crew complement of 100. They conduct maritime enforcement and homeland security missions in support of Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO — The next ship to be commissioned and carry the Kansas City name arrived at its homeport in San Diego on May 24, the commander of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1 said in a release.  

The future USS Kansas City arrived for the first time at Naval Base San Diego, where the U.S. Navy will commission the Independence-variant littoral combat ship on June 20. 

See: USS Oakland Completes Acceptance Trials

“I am extremely proud of all the hard work the crew has done to complete the sail around and prepare us to officially join the fleet on commissioning day,” said Cmdr. RJ Zamberlan, Kansas City’s commanding officer. “We are honored and excited to represent the Navy, the nation and our namesake as well as to fulfill the ship’s motto, ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall.’”  

Kansas City will be homeported in San Diego with sister ships USS Independence, USS Coronado, USS Jackson, USS Montgomery, USS Gabrielle Giffords, USS Omaha, USS Manchester, USS Tulsa, USS Charleston and USS Cincinnati. 

“The arrival of the Kansas City here today is exciting and the crew has worked incredibly hard to get to this point,” said Capt. Matthew McGonigle, commodore of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1. “We look forward to ‘bringing the ship to life’ next month on the day of commissioning.” 

Kansas City was built in Mobile, Alabama, by Austal USA in conjunction with General Dynamics. Prior to departing Mobile for San Diego, Kansas City’s crew conducted a 21-day restriction in movement in accordance with U.S. Navy pre-deployment guidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Kansas City is the 21st LCS to be delivered to the Navy, and the 11th of the Independence-variant to join the fleet. The KC is the second ship to be named for the largest city in Missouri. The name was assigned to a heavy cruiser during World War II. However, construction was canceled after one month due to the end of the war.

The name Kansas City was also assigned to the Wichita-class replenishment oiler AOR 3 in 1967. This ship saw service during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and was decommissioned in 1994.

The engineers behind the development of so many cutting-edge U.S. Navy systems have long dreamed of creating a laser weapon that could defeat the fleet’s enemies. Now, they may be closer than ever to making that dream a reality.

Earlier this year, the Navy installed the first Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey.

The system came out of Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren Division in Virginia as part of Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, and it promises to radically change the way the Navy responds to a variety of threats at sea.

Check out the digital edition of the June Seapower magazine here.

NSWC Dahlgren is the same group that worked on the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), which had a similar purpose: blasting unmanned aircraft out of the sky with a concentrated beam. Perhaps “dazzling” is a more accurate way to describe what LaWS does to airborne drones.

LaWS was a 30-kilowatt laser that was installed on the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce in 2014. It underwent a few years of testing and experiments but ultimately never was slated for operational use. LaWS did provide a lot of the lessons learned for the latest generation of ODIN.

ODIN took just two and a half years for the Navy to move the system from an approved idea through design, construction and testing to actual installation aboard the Dewey — a notable achievement in defense program development.

“The Pacific Fleet Commander identified this urgent counter-intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance need, and the chief of naval operations directed us to fill it as quickly as possible,” said Cmdr. David Wolfe, head of the directed energy program within the Integrated Warfare Systems program executive office.

An Infant System More Advanced Than Its Predecessors

The ODIN program is still in its infancy, but the Navy hopes to roll it out with other ships in the fleet over the next couple of years. The sea service is concerned with the growing prevalence of enemy unmanned aircraft and seeks ways to counter this threat.

The Navy hopes to learn lessons from the installation of ODIN on the Dewey, which will inform commanders about how the system could be implemented on other ships in the future. ODIN, like LaWS, could lead to the development of other laser weapon systems.

The Navy requested $299 million for shipboard laser systems in its fiscal 2019 budget.

Bradley Martin, a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corp., said ODIN is not going to be used like laser weapons you would see in science fiction movies, but rather as something that would scramble a unmanned aerial vehicle’s optical sensor. UAVs right now aren’t a threat to attack a ship, so destroying them quickly isn’t necessary.

“Typically, a UAV is not going to be used as a striking kind of weapon,” Martin said.

Instead, the laser would cause a drone to “lose its way” and eventually crash because it loses the ability to target and navigate. Any adversary using the drone to conduct surveillance of Navy activities would lose access to that asset.

Martin said that laser weapons have shown increasing maturity in recent years.

“Based on everything I’ve seen, [ODIN] is well-developed and on its way to being delivered,” he said. “It’s one of those cases where a naval warfare center was pretty much the main agency responsible for it, and it seems to have worked out pretty well.”

Cost-Effective Solution Best Suited for Smaller Surface Combatants

This type of system is best suited for surface combatants like cruisers and destroyers. Theoretically, it could be put on any class of ship, but ODIN is not a point-defense type of weapon so installing it on other types of vessels might be counterproductive, Martin noted.

The ultimate scenario when it comes to lasers for anyone in Navy leadership is a powerful laser weapon that would be precise in targeting and capable of destroying enemy craft without the need to use expensive munitions that cost millions for each shot. But the technology appears to be nowhere near that kind of capability.

However, as ODIN shows, this is not the only way to make lasers useful as weapons. ODIN works by emitting an infrared light that interferes with electronic sensors. This disrupts a drone’s ability to target or even navigate, which can cause a threat to crash harmlessly into the water.

ODIN will have some of the same limitations all lasers have: rain, smog and smoke could limit its effectiveness, but it’s another tool in the Navy’s toolbox.

ODIN has turned out to be a cost-effective weapon in a number of ways. Devoting power to a laser is less expensive than destroying an aerial threat such as a drone. Also, the system was developed rapidly and for not a lot of money (at least by Defense Department standards).

“It’s a well-developed concept and something that’s in the millions — not many millions — of dollars, and it could be used across the fleet,” Martin said.

He added that he believes we’ll see widespread use of this kind of technology in the Navy within a couple of years. “It’s an urgent need, and it could be used in very short order,” he said.

Martin called it a “good news story” for the Navy.

“A lot of the things they develop, it takes a long time and has to go to somebody outside the Navy to do the work,” Martin said.

Other systems in addition to ODIN are worth watching. With the Navy, Lockheed Martin has been developing the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system. HELIOS recently underwent a successful critical design review and could itself be installed on a destroyer.

“HELIOS will provide an additional layer of protection for the fleet — deep magazine, low cost per kill, speed-of-light delivery and precision response,” Brendan Scanlon, HELIOS program director at Lockheed, said in a statement. “Additional HELIOS systems will accelerate the warfighter learning curve, provide risk reduction for future laser weapon system increments and provide a stronger demand signal to the supply base.”

Editor’s note: This is the second straight month that Seapower has taken an in-depth look at the profound structural changes ahead for the U.S. Marine Corps. Within the May issue, in “Rejoined at the Hip,” we examined how the Corps is reintegrating with the Navy. Here, we examine structural changes that will be required to make that shift and how those changes affect the Corps’ conduct of expeditionary warfare.

A profound structural shift is coming to the U.S. Marine Corps over the next decade.

The Corps in late March announced new force design initiatives intended to make the service the sea-based force it once was. To describe these collectively as a tectonic shift might be an understatement.

Check out the digital edition of the June Seapower magazine here.

Under the new plan, the Marine Corps will totally divest itself of law enforcement and tank battalions, decrease infantry battalions from 24 to 21, slash artillery cannon batteries from 21 to just five, reduce amphibious vehicle companies from six to four, and cut the number of helicopter and tilt-rotor squadrons.

Specifically, the Corps will deactivate Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264; Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462; Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469; Marine Wing Support Groups 27 and 37; the 8th Marine Regiment Headquarters Company; and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines. The service also will deactivate Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 and relocate it to Camp Pendleton, California. And there will be 10 F-35B and C Lightning II joint strike fighters per squadron instead of 16.

Why are the Marines making this shift? It’s all about making the future “Fleet Marine Force” a modernized force with “new organic capabilities” by 2030, the Corps said in a statement.

“Throughout this 10-year initiative, the Marine Corps will be making investments in capabilities to include increasing long-range precision fires, advanced reconnaissance capabilities, unmanned systems and resilient networks,” the statement reads. “Future budget requests will include an expanded list of viable unmanned capabilities that will create significant opportunity for industries across the country.”

It is a dramatic departure from what the Corps has been doing since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marine Corps essentially acted as a second land army, despite its origins as an amphibious force. But the Marines always believed this was a temporary diversion and that they would at some point get back to the sea. Now, it appears that is really happening.

Arming and Manning to Match ‘Great Power Competition’

But the Marines have spent the better part of two decades investing in equipment and structuring itself in an entirely different way, so these 10 years of changes will not be easy. To make them happen, the Marines believe they need to get smaller and start eliminating “legacy” capabilities that don’t match up with future strategy.

This will result in a major personnel reduction — a total force cut of 12,000 over the next decade.

As a result of this shift, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) will become a major focal point for the service. The Marines expect to have three Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs) that can handle sea denial and sea control in maritime spaces as part of III MEF — a far cry from the work the Marines were doing in Iraq and Afghanistan but more in line with the service’s amphibious roots.

The realignment places a bigger emphasis on the Pacific Ocean, and the Marines will operate three Marine expeditionary units (MEUs) there to support the realignment.

Jonathan Wong, associate policy researcher at Rand Corp., said the most impactful changes have nothing to do with divesting or investing in certain forces or equipment but in how the Marine Corps will approach warfare. And the focus is countering a “Great Power Competitor” — the People’s Republic of China.

“The Marines realize that the Navy will face great difficulty projecting power in the Pacific in the future; there are too many accurate, long-range Chinese missiles for that to be feasible,” Wong said.

“So, the Marines’ response is to scatter themselves across islands in the Pacific before a conflict with sensors and long-range rockets and missiles of their own. This puts them in a position to degrade China’s missile advantage and protect the fleet. Being a supporting asset to the Navy is a wholly new way of thinking for today’s Marines. This is the biggest change of all.”

Indeed, the Marines say they expect to expand long-range fires, including a 300% increase in rocket artillery capacity along with anti-ship missiles, which they hope will “profoundly enhance our ability to support the fleet commander in sea control and denial.”

There are other major adjustments to the characteristics of the future force beyond more long-range attack capabilities. Infantry battalions also will be smaller and lighter. The Marines will double the number of unmanned aircraft squadrons. There will be an increase in littoral maritime mobility, including a new light amphibious warship. And the service expects to make big investments in directed-energy systems, electronic warfare, loitering munitions and other cutting-edge technologies.

Lower Budgets Bring About ‘All-In’ on Optimized Force for Peer Conflict

“If defense budgets were on the upswing, the Marine Corps could try to make this concept a reality while preserving their ability to project power, conduct crisis response, wage counter-insurgencies, or any of the other missions that the [Corps] has taken on in the past 20 years,” Wong said. “However, [Commandant Gen. David] Berger believes — rightfully so, I think — that budgets will be flat or decline in the near future. This forces the Marine Corps to make a choice: be a jack of all trades and master of none or go all-in on a force optimized for peer conflict. The Marine Corps has chosen to go all-in, so the reorganization is necessary to enable that.”

Wong said a forceful execution of this plan could improve the “initiative and decision-making abilities of its leadership up and down the chain of command” over the next decade.

“Instead of deploying as battalions in defined battlespaces, companies or even platoons will be operating beyond the range of support, sometimes without reliable communications,” he added. “This will force commanders to trust their subordinates to a much greater extent. Those subordinates will be forced to make decisions with truly nothing more than commander’s intent.”

He added: “I hesitate to make any predictions about force designs or capabilities 10 years hence, but I am very certain that the decision-making qualities of Marine leaders will be forced to mature dramatically if the Marine Corps follows through with their new operating concept.”