09/30/2014: A doctor communicates with a corpsman in a simulated combat zone via Tactical Tele-Medicine July 12, 2014 at Kahuku Training Area as part of the Rim of the Pacific 2014 exercise.
The Tele-medicine is experimental technology which allows corpsmen to get in contact with a doctor on the battle field by instant message.
Credit:U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific:7/12/14
09/28/2014: KC-135 Stratotanker refuels F-18s prior to strike operations in Syria Sept 23, 2014.
These aircraft were part of the second coalition strike package to strike ISIL targets in Syria.
Credit: U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs:9/23/14
09/26/2014: MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii – Marines use the Small Unit Water Purification System to purify murky water from a river to supply water to troops throughout the training area.
According to the water purification technicians, the SUWP averaged 15 gallons of purified water per hour.
The SUWP was tested during the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab’s Advanced Warfighting Experiment as they try to find technologies for the future Marine Corps.
Not having to carry as much water significant lightens the load on war fighters.
Credit: Marine Corps Futures Directorate:7/13/14
09/25/2014: The sea base is an increasingly important part of the engagement against land targets.
This is true of Ospreys bringing Marines ashore and of the use of precision strike weapons.
Indeed, the Navy’s role leveraging the surface, subsurface and air-breathing assets to distribute strike across the strike fleet will go up as the weapons revolution evolves over the next twenty years.
This slideshow highlights the use of land attack Tomahawks in Valiant Shield 2014.
Credit: III Marine Expeditionary Force / Marine Corps Installations Pacific:9/17/14
Valiant Shield is a U.S.-only exercise integrating an estimated 18,000 U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps personnel, more than 200 aircraft and 19 surface ships, offering real world joint operational experience to develop capabilities that provide a full range of options to defend U.S. interests and those of its allies and partners.
09/25/2014: In the first part of the video, the guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) is seen launching Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles (TLAM) against ISIL targets.
In the remaining part of the video, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) launches Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles (TLAM) against ISIL targets.
Philippine Sea is deployed as part of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Carrier Strike Group.
Credit: Defense Media Activity:9/23/14
09/25/2014:The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) launches tomahawk missiles as part of the mission to destroy ISIS.
In the final two photos, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) launches Tomahawk Cruise Missile as seen from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).
George H.W. Bush and Philippine Sea are part of Carrier Strike Group 2.
Credit: Navy Media Content Services:9/23/14
09/24/2014: The fifth iteration of Valiant Shield came to a close Sept. 23 after nine days of joint air, land and sea interoperability training between the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army.
“Overall, Valiant Shield 2014 was a very successful exercise,” said Rear Adm. Russell Allen, Valiant Shield exercise director. “Opposition forces provided a robust challenge to our air, sea and cyber forces, which enhanced our ability to function as a joint force and validated the air-sea battle concept. The lessons learned will help further the development of tactics, techniques and procedures in the joint environment, especially those for the air-sea-battle concept.”
The goal of Valiant Shield 2014 was to bring together more than 18,000 service members, 200 aircraft and 19 surface vessels to developing a “pre-integrated” joint force built from habitual relationships.
This force builds interoperable and complementary cross-domain capabilities and benefits from realistic, shared training enhancing the flexibility to develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures as operational conditions dictate. Such forces will provide the deterrence and stabilizing effects of a force-in-being, ready at the outset of a contingency without delays for buildups or extensive mission rehearsal.
During the air operation portions of the exercise, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps completed scenarios that included simulated defensive counter-air missions, strike missions, suppression of enemy air defenses, maritime interdiction, air-to-air refueling, and command and control operations.
In addition, U.S. infantry Marines, along with Guam National Guardsmen, conducted an island seizure exercise on Tinian Island, approximately 50 miles north of Guam.
Valiant Shield 2014 featured several firsts, including the deployment of an Army Patriot missile battery, from the 1-1 Air Defense Artillery Battalion, and the integration of the Task Force Talon terminal high altitude area defense battery assets, previously deployed to Guam.
One of the many sea-based Valiant Shield scenarios was a live-fire sink exercise, which sank the decommissioned USS Fresno (LST 1182) in waters 18,000 feet deep, approximately 215 nautical miles northeast of Guam.
Units from the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps also participated in the sinking exercise, firing a variety of ship-based and aircraft-based weaponry to enhance tactical proficiency and targeting against a surface target at sea.
The lessons learned from exercises like VS14 will assist the U.S. in continuing to develop regional and global power projection capabilities that provide a full range of options to succeed in defense of its interests and those of its allies and partners around the world.
Press Release, September 23, 2014; Image: US Navy
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) is underway in formation at the conclusion of Valiant Shield 2014.
Credit: Navy Media Services:9/23/14
09/24/2014: According to a story in Jane’s the USN is converting older missiles as part of the strike package against ISIS.
Credit: Navy Media Content Services: 9/22/14
The conversion of 500 missiles will run through to the end of January 2017. Although not mentioned in the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) notification, the contract most likely arises from the current USN air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, where the Maverick missile is being used extensively.
Able to engage targets with more accuracy and from longer ranges, the out-of-production laser-guided Maverick was recently reconstituted by the US Air Force (USAF) as a result of operational experience during Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’, where it was used on the service’s Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft. In USAF service, the laser-guided Maverick is designated the AGM-65L.
Following the USAF’s example, the USN decided to re-introduce the 300 lb-class laser-guided Maverick to provide a precision strike capability against rapidly moving targets in urban environments. It is this niche capability that makes AGM-65E2 the weapon of choice for the current conflict in Iraq.
Raytheon officials have previously told IHS Jane’s that, while the newer AGM-65E2 looks physically identical to the older AGM-65A/B, they are actually completely different missiles inside.
In the video, Sailors launch and recover aircraft from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) supporting strike, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq.
These missions help increase U.S. capacity to target ISIL, and coordinate the activities of the U.S. military across Iraq.