DARPA demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system (UAS). DAPRA Image
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Marine Corps and Navy are preparing for a high-end fight that will require ships to be distributed across the ocean rather than clustered around an aircraft carrier, and the Marines’ future Group 5 unmanned aerial system will give them the airborne early warning capability to break free from the carrier and its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning aircraft. Read More
Capt. Mark Melson, commanding officer of the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8), and executive officer Cmdr. David M. Oden inspect the hull of the ship in a floating dry dock at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), Aug. 25. 2017. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – Nearly half the Navy’s amphibious ships are currently tied up in maintenance availabilities and the service would be several ships short of need if it had to scramble the fleet for a major contingency, in large part due to continuing resolutions and other budget challenges, top Navy and Marine Corps operations officials said today. Read More
The following is the Government Accountability Office Dec. 1, 2017, Navy and Marine Corps Training: Further PLanning Needed for Amphibious Operations Training. Read More
The amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), left, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) are underway in formation during a simulated straits transit on June 5, 2017. US Navy photo.
As the first-in-class USS America (LHA-6) begins operations on its first major overseas deployment, leadership has a good understanding of the basics of operating this new type of ship – an amphibious assault ship without a well deck – but also a lot of room to learn how to maximize the new capability it brings to the fleet. Read More
An AV-8B Harrier, from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) on Dec. 5, 2016. The 22nd MEU, embarked on Wasp, is conducting precision air strikes in support of the Libyan Government aligned forces against Islamic State targets in Sirte, Libya, as part of Operation Odyssey Lightning. US Navy photo.
The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have returned home from a six-month deployment that included conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya and supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. Read More
The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) underway in the western Pacific Ocean on Oct. 25, 2016. The Makin Island ARG is comprised of the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8), the amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45) and the amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25), and is deployed with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. US Navy photo.
The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit passed from U.S. 7th Fleet to U.S. 5th Fleet today, putting all three of the Navy’s deployed battle groups in the Middle East. Read More
MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft return after a long-range raid from Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa as part of Blue Chromite 2017, Nov. 4, 2016. The Marines honed their ability to project forces from afar by executing a long-range raid over 1,000 miles via MV-22B Osprey to include an aerial refueling by KC-130J Super Hercules. Blue Chromite is a U.S.-only exercise which strengthens the Navy-Marine Corps expeditionary, amphibious rapid-response capabilities based in Okinawa and the greater Indo-Asia-Pacific region. US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps in recent years has grappled with how to remain a “fight-tonight” force without enough ships to take Marines where they need to go – but a Navy effort to redesign its future fleet and an incoming administration dedicated to growing the Navy may bode well for solving this long-standing problem.
The amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) conducts flight operations while underway to Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016. US Navy photo.
ABOARD USS AMERICA — The new amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) has raised more than a few questions in its short life, with sailors and Marines alike wondering what it will mean to have an amphibious ship without a well deck and therefore without the ability to deploy landing craft to move heavy tanks and equipment ashore.
America’s recent participation in the Rim of the Pacific 2016 international exercise may have allayed some concerns – the resounding feedback from those involved in the ship’s operations is that, if the Marines are willing to tweak the composition of the deploying Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), America can move them faster, more agilely and more safely. Read More
Marines from 3rd Marine Division surveyed the USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) in order to plan for future operations aboard the ship, maximizing the ship’s potential for Marines to operate at sea as they did in the past. US Marine Corps photo.
The 3rd Marine Division is exploring ways to not only put Marines infantry on non-traditional ships but to push those vessels into higher-level military operations, the division commanding general told USNI News. Read More
AV-8B Harriers and an MV-22 Osprey sit on the flight deck at night aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) on Oct. 8, 2014. US Navy photo.
PENTAGON — The Navy and Marine Corps should explore ways to make Marine aircraft a more useful part of the naval battle force – using alternate mixes of aircraft types on amphibious ship flight decks, finding additional missions for those aircraft, and pursuing increased connectivity to the rest of the naval fleet, the deputy commandant for aviation told USNI News. Read More
