WASHINGTON — Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) conducted an operational test and evaluation of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile from an AH-1Z Viper, Dec. 6, 2021, at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, the Marine Corps said in a Jan. 31 release.  

VMX-1 continues testing and analyzing the capabilities of the JAGM on land targets after they evaluated the effectiveness of the missile on maritime targets in November 2021 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.   

Personnel from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two One (HX-21), Naval Air Systems Command Direct and Time Sensitive Strike program office (PMA-242), Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, as well as industry partners were on location to observe and analyze the data from the test event. This event can lead to significant improvements in lethality of attack helicopters by arming them with newer munitions equipped with two sensor technologies and optimizes missile performance on land targets.    

“I am proud of all the work and professionalism demonstrated by the joint team striving to hit major milestones of the JAGM initial operational test and evaluation,” said VMX-1 Commanding Officer Col. Byron Sullivan. “The analysts, coordinators, and controllers meticulously pour over all the data captured so this weapon system can bring the necessary firepower to the warfighter.” 

The team observed the test of eight separate shots against armored and light armored vehicles in a variety of operational scenarios. Ultimately, the data collected is analyzed to determine overall system effectiveness and refine the tactics, techniques and procedures of employing this weapon in expeditionary advanced base operations, such as strike operations and close air support.   

“Watching the joint team perform the JAGM test is like observing a highly-skilled professional football team with seasoned offensive coordinators calling the right plays for an offense that flawlessly executes play after play,” said Maj. Thomas Hutson, the Assault Support department head at VMX-1 and member of the JAGM test team. 

This test is part of a larger effort to upgrade the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft, in alignment with the Commandant’s vision of force modernization to maintain a competitive edge against potential adversaries.    

The mission of VMX-1 is to conduct operational test and evaluation of Marine Corps aviation platforms and systems. 

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. — The CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter now equips an operational Marine heavy helicopter squadron, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing said Jan. 25.   

A Jan. 24 ceremony at New River marked the transition of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 (HMH-461) from the CH-53E Super Stallion to the CH-53K. 

“Today our Marine Corps got a little stronger,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Cederholm, commanding general of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, described the significance of HMH-461’s transition to the CH-53K. “It is only appropriate that 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and in particular Marine Corps Air Station New River, would be the first to receive the newest land and sea-based heavy helicopter because this is the home of the Marine Corps’ assault support. Placing the CH-53K King Stallion into the hands of our warfighters will ensure we capitalize on the unique qualities and characteristics of the 53K and will allow 2nd MAW to continue to provide the best aviation support to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force right now, and well into our future.” 

The CH-53K is designed to lift nearly 14 tons (27,000 pounds) at a mission radius of 110 nautical miles, in high and hot environments. It can lift almost triple the baseline CH-53E lift capability. It is also designed to have a smaller shipboard footprint, lower operating costs per aircraft and less direct maintenance man hours per flight hour. The CH-53K is expected to externally lift two up-armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, light armored vehicles and dual joint light tactical vehicles. It features a cabin section 12 inches wider than the CH-53E that can internally load two AMC 463L pallets or five AMC 463L half-pallets or internally load a Humvee.  

The CH-53K leverages a next-generation glass cockpit Common Avionics Architecture System open-architecture design; utilizes triple redundant fly-by-wire flight controls adding additional survivability, safety and maintenance improvements; includes fourth-generation high-efficiency composite rotor blades with swept anhedral tips; and leverages a low-maintenance elastomeric rotor head. 

“Quite simply, 2nd MAW will be able to move more troops and equipment, at higher altitudes, faster speeds, and in more austere environments than ever before,” Cederholm said. “We continue to become a more modernized and lethal force so, when the time comes, we will deliver on II Marine Expeditionary Force’s motto: ‘Come to Fight — Come to Win.’ I am so proud of the Marines and Sailors of 2nd MAW and find it appropriate that they are a part of this moment in Marine Corps aviation history.”   

The Marine Corps plans to stand up eight active-duty squadrons, one training squadron and two reserve squadrons to support operational requirements. The CH-53K is currently on track to deploy to the fleet as needed by the Marine Corps in fiscal 2024. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps’ role in distributed maritime operations will require technology that can identify underwater threats as well as dangers posed by surface vessels and long range aircraft and missiles, a top commander says.

Speaking Jan. 13 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Lt. Gen. Karsten S. Heckl, head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, explained the Marines’ evolving expeditionary warfare role in the Navy strategy for dealing with potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept envisions littoral operations by specialized  mobile, low signature units within larger distributed maritime operations areas. New Marine Littoral Regiments “uniquely designed to maneuver and persist inside a contested maritime environment,” will have a primary mission “to conduct sea control and denial operations as part of a larger naval expeditionary force,” Heckl said. Equipped with rockets, missiles and other long range fires, as well as surface and amphibious craft to increase their mobility, EABO units will control access to choke points while limiting an adversary’s ability to target them.

But “if you’re telling me that we’re going to occupy and control — sea control, sea denial — critical maritime slots, that means probably more critical than anything, the undersea domain,” Heckl said.

Drawing on his experience as a former commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, Heckl said, “there are things that exist today to sense underwater. Not expensive, persistent, in fact for the price of probably one P-8 I could sense the majority of the first island chain.”

The subsurface is very important, Heckl said. “We are continuing efforts on that in conjunction with [Marine Corps commandant’s] force design.” A “kill web” of Navy and Marine Corps sea-based and land-based sensors and shooters that gives “a fleet commander the capability to sense a critical slot or a critical piece of maritime terrain, and not have to use a capital asset is pretty significant.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicles are set to return to unrestricted waterborne operations following the development of a new tow rope solution designed to address previous issues with the vehicle’s towing mechanism, the Marine Corps said Jan. 6. 

In September 2021, the Marine Corps suspended ACV operations in unprotected waters while it worked to resolve the towing issues that were identified in several after action reports from the field.  

“Amphibious operations, including the use of amphibious ship-to-shore connectors, is a foundational aspect of Marine Corps operations and is critical to the future force and its ability to remain the Nation’s premier expeditionary force in readiness,” said Lt. Gen. David Furness, deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. 

Once equipped with and trained to employ the new tow rope solution, units are authorized to use the ACV to conduct unrestricted amphibious operations, including self-recovery operations in the open ocean and through the surf zone. 

Prior to the receipt and installation of the new replacement tow ropes, ACV operation remains restricted to land mobility, gunnery operations, and amphibious operations in protected waters.  

In addition to the new equipment and training requirements are the 18 tasks that units must complete, validate and certify prior to the resumption of waterborne operations. These tasks stem from the comprehensive investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the July 2020 AAV tragedy. 

The tasks cover a variety of requirements, including ensuring training and qualifications for crew and embarked personnel are properly equipped, vehicles have passed required inspections and operations are conducted with safety boats, sea state assessments and positive communication. 

SAN DIEGO — The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) departed on a regularly scheduled deployment Jan. 3 as the centerpiece of a carrier strike group that included the Marine Corps’ first F-35C Lightning II squadron.  

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is led by the command staff of CSG 3 and consists of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 21 (DESRON 21) — USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS Gridley (DDG 101), USS Sampson (DDG 102) and USS Spruance (DDG 111). 

CVW-9 includes Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314), the Corps’ first F-35C squadron. The deployment marks the second carrier deployment of the F-35C.  

The Marine Corps plans to field a total of four F-35C squadrons and have committed two of them to the Tactical Air Integration program of deploying with CVWs. 

The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) currently is deployed to the Indo-Pacific region with the Navy’s first fleet F-35C squadron, Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147), on board. 

CVW-9 also includes VFA-14, equipped with F/A-18F Super Hornet Strike Fighters; VFAs 14 and 151, equipped with F/A-18Es; Electronic Attack Squadron 133 (VAQ-133), with EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft; Airborne Command and Control Squadron 117 (VAW-117) with E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft; Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 14 (HSC-14) with MH-60S Seahawk helicopters; Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 71 (HSM-71) with MH-60R Seahawk helicopters; and a detachment of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron 30 (VRM-30), equipped with the CMV-22B Osprey carrier-onboard delivery aircraft.  
 
“The entire CSG 3 team is trained and ready to deter and, if necessary, win conflicts as called upon by our nation’s leaders,” said Rear Adm. J.T. Anderson, commander, Carrier Strike Group 3, in a release from U.S. 3rd Fleet. “As we leave today on this routine, scheduled deployment, I know the Sailors and Marines of this team will continue to serve this great nation and its people. It is our honor to do so.”  
 

The U.S. Marine Corps’ Medium Range Intercept Capability prototype, developed as part of a mid-tier acquisition rapid prototyping effort, successfully engaged targets Dec. 16, 2021, at White Sands Missile Range, the Corps announced.

This first round of tests is part of a series of live fire events scheduled for fiscal year 2022 all of which will be carried out against relevant and increasingly more challenging cruise missile profiles. This test series will stress the system and define the system’s proficiency and potential.

The MRIC prototype is being developed by the Ground Based Air Defense program office at Program Executive Officer Land Systems in support of a Fleet Marine Forces modernization initiative. The effort will inform counter-air defense requirements and any subsequent acquisition activities.

“The MRIC is a missile system which detects, tracks, identifies and defeats enemy cruise missiles threats and other manned and other unmanned aerial threats,” said program manager Don Kelley. “It is planned to provide ground based air defense for permanently fixed and operationally semi-fixed sites.”

The MRIC currently integrates existing Marine Corps systems — specifically, the Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar and Common Aviation Command and Control System — with the Israeli Iron Dome mini-Battle Management Control and Tamir missile.

The project team built upon the lessons learned from an initial demonstration in Aug. 2019. Since then, MRIC has been formally designated a middle tier acquisition–rapid prototype program.

Additional live fire testing is planned during the remainder of fiscal 2022. Pending results, the Marine Corps will decide whether to potentially certify the prototype for deployment, establish an MRIC program of record or both.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps has decided to cease deploying AAV7 assault amphibious vehicles as well as operating them in water during exercises, the Corps said in a release. 

The decision is a consequence of a fatal mishap on July 30, 2020, with the sinking of an AAV7 off California, resulting in the deaths of eight Marines and a Navy corpsman.  

The AAV7, which entered service in 1972, is the prime amphibious vehicle of the Marine Corps. It has gone through upgrades since. It is being replaced by the Amphibious Combat Vehicle.    

The following statement was released by Maj. Jim Stenger, a Marine Corps spokesman: 

“The Marine Corps stands by the efficacy of the recommendations that came from the multiple investigations into the AAV mishap from the summer of 2020, and with those recommendations implemented and sustained, the AAV is a safe and effective vehicle for amphibious operations.   

“That said, given the current state of the amphibious vehicle program [the program that manages both AAVs and ACVs], the commandant of the Marine Corps has decided the AAV will no longer serve as part of regularly scheduled deployments or train in the water during military exercises; AAVs will only return to operating in the water if needed for crisis response. This decision was made in the interest of the long-term health of the amphibious vehicle programs and future capabilities. The AAV will continue to operate on land; 76% of its tasks are land-based. In doing so, we reserve the capability to reverse this decision should the need arise. 

“The Marine Corps will continue deployments with myriad lethal capabilities which currently exist, and we remain committed to fielding the Amphibious Combat Vehicle. 

“ACVs were temporarily suspended from open-ocean waterborne operations as we worked to solve an issue that was identified with the towing mechanism. We expect that issue to be resolved soon and for ACVs to return to the water early in the New Year.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marine Corps Stand-In Forces are needed in the contested sea lanes and littorals of the Western Pacific as the leading edge of a maritime defense-in-depth that can disrupt the plans of potential adversaries, according to the Corps’ commandant.

The Marine Corps recently released A Concept for Stand-in Forces, which maintains that small but lethal, resilient, forward-postured forces, operating in contested areas — capable of transitioning rapidly from competition to crisis to conflict and back again — can extend the reach of the fleet and joint force.

Depending solely on a stand-off force of large vessels 1,000 miles away from China “works right into their strategy,” Gen. David Berger told a Dec. 14 virtual “fireside chat” with the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank. “They’ll be exactly where they want to be five years from now.”

The People’s Liberation Army Navy likes to build a bubble or shield within a contested area, Berger said, and “push it way, way out and then operate without being seen. That’s perfect for them. That’s what happened in the South China Sea.”

That’s why a stand-in force of small, highly mobile Marine expeditionary units, dispersed in contested areas by numerous smaller, cheaper, low signature surface vessels is necessary, Berger said. “How are you going to sense what’s in front of us every day? How are we going to assure  our partners and allies? We have to be there, up close and forward”. The concept paper said Stand-In Forces would be supplied by expeditionary advanced bases.

Berger was asked how such forward-deployed units, even armed with long-range precision fires, could avoid a fate like the advanced naval and air base at Wake Island, which fell to the Japanese 80 years ago.

“Wake Island only happened because we couldn’t see it coming early enough. We have to be forward as a Stand-In Force. We have to be the eyes and ears of the joint force,” Berger said.

Wake Island, an uninhabited atoll in the Central Pacific, more than 2,000 miles west of Hawaii, was home to a half completed aircraft and submarine base in early December 1941, as war with Japan threatened. Wake was defended by an understrength battalion of 449 Marines, a handful of Navy and Army personnel and a dozen Marine Corps Grumman F4F Wildcats, all but four of them destroyed in a Japanese air raid just hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked. The base had no radar equipment.

Marine shore batteries and the remaining Wildcats repulsed a Japanese naval assault on Dec. 11. Two Japanese destroyers and a submarine were sunk, 21 aircraft shot down and several other Japanese vessels were damaged. However, Wake Island’s defenders were overrun by a second naval assault and surrendered on Dec. 23, 1941. Before the surrender, a Navy task force sent as relief mission to Wake was recalled under still controversial circumstances.

“The chance of a 21^st century Wake Island goes up if we do not have the ability to do sensing forward, the ability to strip away an adversary’s eyes and ears,” Berger said, calling for reconnaissance measures that would also counter Chinese surveillance efforts. “The balance of sensors has to be from the satellite all the way down to terrestrial. All of it, so that nothing happens in front of us without us knowing it, without us understanding it.”

“The Stand-In Force that we’re working on isn’t just Marines,” the commandant said. It could also include the Coast Guard and Special Operations, he said. “It could be the subsurface fleet, allies and partners — all of them forward — and Wake Island doesn’t happen.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — In a first for the Marine Corps, Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1) conducted over-the-horizon heavy lift and troop transport ship-to-shore operations aboard CH-53K King Stallions over the Atlantic Ocean, Nov. 19-21, Headquarters Marine Corps said Dec. 3.  

These exercises are a critical component of the Marine Corps’ future force operating concepts, such as expeditionary advanced base operations and distributed operations.  

“We are excited to continue advancing the commandant’s vision of the future force by partnering with the Navy and finding ways to optimize how we operate and thrive in a strategic competition environment,” said VMX-1 Commanding Officer Col. Byron Sullivan. “We remain the nation’s naval expeditionary force, ready to fight in any clime or place at any time.” 

VMX-1, evaluating the King Stallion’s ability to meet program specification for the over-the-horizon heavy lift evolution, tested the King Stallion’s capability to transport a 27,000-pound light armored vehicle (LAV-25) from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) to a landing zone ashore. The troop transport evolution evaluated the King Stallion’s ability to move troops over the horizon to a location ashore and return to ship without refueling, covering as much as 220 nautical miles roundtrip.  

Combat Logistics Battalion 24 and 2d Battalion, 2d Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, provided personnel and equipment to assist VMX-1 with their testing, and sailors from the USS Iwo Jima assisted VMX-1 with shipboard and flight deck operations.  

The Marine Corps is progressing through initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) of the CH-53Ks prior to fielding them to the Fleet Marine Force. The pilots, maintainers, and contractors of VMX-1, the squadron tasked with conducting operational test and evaluation of Marine Corps aviation platforms and systems, play a significant role in shaping the tactics, techniques and procedures of CH-53K utilization. Additionally, VMX-1 personnel will put the aircraft through rigorous evaluations in order to determine its suitability and effectiveness before arriving to the fleet.  

“We have the most professional and capable individuals maintaining the aircraft and are also appreciative to the Blue-Green Team, who demonstrate the superb ability to operating harmoniously,” said VMX-1 CH-53K Detachment Operations Officer Maj. Joshua Banks.  

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) conducted an operational test and evaluation of the joint air-to-ground missile (JAGM) from an AH-1Z Viper, Nov. 3-7 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the Corps announced Dec. 2. 

VMX-1 fired and evaluated the JAGM to determine its suitability and effectiveness to support expeditionary advanced base operations, such as conducting sea denial operations within the littorals and supporting sea control operations.   

Personnel from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 21 (HX-21), Naval Air Systems Command Direct and Time-Sensitive Strike program office (PMA-242), Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, Air Force 780th Test Squadron, as well as industry partners, were on location to observe and analyze the data from the test event. This event can lead to significant improvements in lethality of attack helicopters by arming them with newer munitions equipped with two sensor technologies and optimizes missile performance on maritime targets.    

“Watching these professionals from across the services and industry come together to test the effectiveness and work on improvement for this weapon system is truly a phenomenal experience,” said VMX-1 Commanding Officer Col. Byron Sullivan. “The team is doing everything possible to ensure this capability will be the needed upgrade that enhances our ability to use precision strikes against fast-moving maritime targets.” 

The team observed the test from locations across Eglin Air Force Base, honing in on weather considerations, telemetry and instrumentation, coordinating with the pilots, and observing the impact zone. Ultimately, the data collected will be analyzed to determine overall system effectiveness and develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures for its employment.   

“Executing this type of concept development is very critical to get it right on paper and put more effective systems in the hands of the warfighter,” said Maj. Thomas Hutson, the Assault Support department head at VMX-1 and member of the JAGM test team. 

This test is part of a larger effort to upgrade the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft, in alignment with the Commandant’s vision of force modernization vision to maintain a competitive edge against potential adversaries.    

The mission of VMX-1 is to conduct operational test and evaluation of Marine Corps aviation platforms and systems.