U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and Ukrainian Marines with1st Marine Battalion, 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, conduct joint planning and movement-to-target drills during Exercise Sea Breeze, July 3, 2021.
UKRAINE
07.03.2021
Video by Sgt. Dylan Chagnon U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet
By Robbin Laird
Recently, I had a chance to talk with VADM Lewis, Commander of Second Fleet and of Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk. We spoke one day after the full operational capability ceremony held on the USS Kearsarge for Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk.
Together, the two commands represent a key capability for shaping a way ahead for North Atlantic defense, and the challenge will be to continue to build out capabilities to enhance crisis management and deterrent force integration over the next few years. The Russians and the Chinese are certainly focused on encouraging disunity among nations, and conflict within those nations as well.
We started by discussing the recent series of exercises held in the North Atlantic and worked with Sixth Fleet as well. In those exercises, in effect, different modules were worked in shaping an overall North Atlantic maritime-focused defense capability. Two major North Sea maritime exercise, namely the Royal Navy’s Strike Warrior Exercise and the U.S. Exercise Ragnar Viking occurred first; then Steadfast Defender; then Formidable Shield 2021, and then BALTOPS-50.
In his prepared remarks at the July 15, 2021 ceremony, this is how VADM Lewis highlighted the Steadfast Defender exercise:
“During STEADFAST DEFENDER, this team showed that they are prepared to operate together as a NATO JFC, as we stood up our Joint Operations Center for the first time and executed a robust battle rhythm and crisis scenario, augmented by an expert team of U.S. Reservists from across the joint force. From here on out, we will build on that success as we connect Allied and Partner nations operating in the Atlantic.
“With our inaugural commanders’ conference in June, we solidified the enhanced relationships that have been fostered with National and NATO headquarters that share our common aim of trans-Atlantic security. This Command Network sits at the core of JFC Norfolk. It unites diverse expertise and capabilities through coordination and guidance to better meet SACEUR’s Strategic Direction. It also allows us to remain adaptable in our own staff and utilize resources in the most efficient way to meet complex problems.
“It is this sustained high performance that gives me the assurance and confidence that JFC Norfolk is FULLY OPERATIONAL. As a fully operational NATO command, we are executing our peacetime mission in line with SACEUR’s direction and guidance. We will continue to provide All-domain situational understanding, both lead and contribute to NATO planning… and participate in exercises like STEADFAST DEFENDER and STEADFAST JUPITER.”
During the interview VADM Lewis underscored the multi-domain aspect of the exercises which allows for the nations to work more effectively together for crisis management, war-fighting and deterrence. VADM Lewis noted that what these efforts are providing is “connecting the blue dots. It is about coordination of efforts, as the Nations are going to do what they are going to do. But by more effective coordination we can take those efforts and deliver a more significant capability for deterrence.”
Having just returned spending time with 2nd MAW and II MEF, I asked him about how he saw the contribution of the USMC to his efforts. He noted that he had recently visited II MEF for the retirement ceremony of Lt. General Beaudreault and had met with the new CG of II MEF, Lieutenant General William M. Jurney, while there. He noted: “I think typically we’re going to be integrating task force efforts and exercising how best to use USMC capabilities in an integrated manner with the fleet.”
When I visited II MEF recently, Lt. General Beaudreault highlighted the efforts underway to shape an integrated task force whereby 2d MEB would stand up an integrated headquarters working with 2nd ESG, potentially based at Camp Lejeune that would work integrated operations between the fleet and the MEB. This was reinforced by VADM Lewis as well.
The final point we discussed was about the Nordics. In the period in which 2nd Fleet was re-established, the Nordic nations have clearly ramped up their defense efforts and cooperation with each other and with the United States and NATO. In my visit to 2nd MAW, I discussed their recent exercise in Finland with the Finnish air force. There the Marines worked closely with the Finns and worked tactics guided by Finnish capabilities and combat approaches. It was a Finnish lead to combat learning for the Marines when operating in their country and in the region.
This learn from others approach is also a key part of how VADM Lewis has led his command. As he commented: “That has been my mantra from day one here: learning from our regional operations. As we work how best to operate in the region, we are learning from our regional partners some of the best ways to do so.”
In his remarks on July 15th, VADM Lewis underscored this “mantra” as well as follows: “Those personnel with Arctic and Atlantic expertise on my staff have been critical to shaping our understanding of this rugged geography, both in the waters and in the littorals.”
In short, watching the ceremony on the 15th, reflecting on what Ed Timperlake and I have learned in Norfolk, and after talking with VADM Lewis on the 16th of July, I could not but be reminded of the famous quote from Ben Franklin at the time of establishing our country. On September 17, 1787, as the delegates left the Constitutional Convention in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government do we have? “A Republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.”
What VADM Lewis and his team and the allies have launched is clearly a template for change and can shape a way ahead for effective direct defense of our interests.
Will those who follow be able to meet the challenges of keeping pace with what I believe is the pacing threat for the United States, Russia, China and the explosive forces of terrorism and authoritarianism coming from the Euro-Med region. While China may well be a pacing threat, the Russians spearhead a continuous direct challenge with political-military capabilities underlying that challenge.
2nd Fleet and Joint Force Command Norfolk: A May 2021 Update
The final Red Flag iteration of 2021, Red Flag 21-3, will be led by the 1st Fighter Wing and will feature over 20 different airframes and welcome nearly 2,200 participants from across the country.
The 414th Combat Training Squadron conducts Red Flag to provide mission commanders, maintenance personnel, ground controllers, and air, space and cyber operators the opportunity to experience realistic combat scenarios in preparation for future warfare.
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NV
07.15.2021
Video by Senior Airman Bailee Darbasie
Nellis AFB Public Affairs
By Pierre Tran
Paris – Onera and European missile builder MBDA are due to conduct the first test flight of a full-scale prototype of a French hypersonic cruise missile in the U.S., with help from NASA and the U.S. Air Force, an official of the French research agency said July 9.
The test flight of a four-meter long missile aims to study hypersonic propulsion in the Lea flight experiment project, backed by Onera and MBDA, the official said. The test flight is due to take place “in a few months,” at a US air force base on the East coast.
The propulsion system, powered by a hydrogen-methane fuel, is due to perform five to 10 seconds in flight, allowing calculation of the performance. Work on Lea has been conducted on the ground, including wind tunnels, over the last 20 or so years.
The official was standing at a small-scale model of a Lea experimental cruise missile, one of the displays at a showcase of Onera’s work on civil and military technology at the Aero Club de France, an association of French aerospace.
That was the first time a model of the Lea project has been publicly displayed, an Onera spokesman said.
There would have been a high level approval and security clearance for that public display of Lea, and the small-scale model would be different from the missile due to fly in the flight test, a source familiar with the project said. Any published pictures of the ASMP/A have been airbrushed to remove details of the airborne nuclear-tipped missile built by MBDA.
Onera “has never stopped working” on upstream studies on the missile vehicle and engine, to design hypersonic propulsion, the official said. The flight test will help define base options on the missile, expected to fly at Mach 6 in the flight tests.
The ground tests included those conducted at the Onera wind tunnels at Modane in the French Alps.
Work on Lea is intended to help MBDA design and build a scramjet cruise missile which will succeed the ASMP/A, the airborne nuclear deterrent carried by the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jet.
The successor to the ASMP/A missile will be fitted on the next generation fighter, a key element in the European future combat air system backed by France, Germany and Spain.
Onera and MBDA said in a 2009 Nato research note, planned flight tests of Lea were to use a Russian Tupolev Tu-22 M3 bomber to launch the test missile, which would have flown 20-30 seconds at Mach 4 to 8 over 30-40 km before crash landing. The booster on the test missile would have been based on the Russian Raduga AS4 missile.
The Tu-22 is also known as Backfire bomber.
Lea is a “French R&T effort for hypersonic air-breathing propulsion … focusing on needed technologies for the propulsion system and acquisition of aero-propulsive balance prediction capability,” the note said.
While much of the work on Lea could be conducted in combustion chambers on the ground to test “performance and thermo-mechanical strength,” a flight experimental program (was) “a mandatory step towards future operational developments,” the note said. The flight test program started in January 2003 and had been due to end in 2015, after four flight tests flying between Mach 4 and 8.
Another Onera display was a Simagaz infrared camera for multi-spectral gas detection, mounted as a one-kilogram payload on a UAV. The research agency has three prototypes of the gas detector.
The camera sees gas emissions in four IR spectral bands and uses software to give an overall image in color. Onera developed the software, and worked with IR camera specialist Noxant, oil company Total, as well as Lynred, a specialist on infrared technology, and Bertin Technologies, a high tech company.
A military application would be to detect gas weapons, while civil companies such as Total could detect gas leaks. The IR camera, which can be fitted to any commercial UAV, is at technology readiness level 5-6, and calls for a further two to five years of development, an Onera official said.
Primagaz is one of 18 high tech projects Onera is backing with partners Ecole Polytechnique, SATT, and Starburst in the Blast campaign. The Blast program offers support to companies working on high tech projects for aviation, defense, space, and enabling technology. BPI France, a state-owned investment bank, also supports the campaign.
Ecole Polytechnique is an élite university, whose students in uniform marched in the military parade on the Champs Elysées on the July 14 Bastille Day celebration. SATT seeks to help university researchers find a market for technology, and Starburst helps business start-ups find financial backers.
Exercise Sea Explorer is the 2nd of 3 exercises in the annual Sea Series to hone and certify Australia’s Amphibious Forces.
The first exercise, Sea Horizon, was a planning exercise in preparation for the subsequent Sea Explorer and Raider exercises.
During Exercise Sea Explorer, almost 1800 soldiers, sailors and aviators aboard HMAS’ Canberra and Choules practiced amphibious landings of soldiers, vehicles and equipment onto Cowley Beach in North-eastern Queensland from 2-15 June, 2021.
U.S. Marines with Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, participate in egress training in the CH-53K “King Stallion” at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, April 28, 2021.
Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX) is training Marines on the CH-53K to improve proficiency and familiarize all elements of the Marine Expeditionary Force with the aircraft.
The CH-53K will be considered the most powerful helicopter in the Department of Defense and is scheduled to completely replace the CH-53E Super Stallion by 2030.
MCAS NEW RIVER, NC.
04.28.2021
Video by Sgt. Mikayla Perez 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
ARABIAN GULF (July 10, 2021) Sailors assigned to the Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) chock and chain a UH-1Y Huey, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 (Reinforced), during flight operations in the Arabian Gulf, July 10, 2021.
Carter Hall is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sawyer Connally)
by 1st Lt. Charles Allen
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – (July 7, 2021) Marines with 3rd Marine
Aircraft Wing begin Exercise Summer Fury 21 with a long-range maritime strike off the coast of
Washington. Summer Fury is the largest Marine aviation exercise on the West Coast, and provides 3rd MAW opportunity to improve warfighter readiness in support of a Marine Expeditionary Force maritime campaign.
From July 7 to July 9, 3rd MAW will execute a long-range maritime strike against a simulated enemy naval surface combatant. With the support of the Port of Moses Lake, 3rd MAW will demonstrate its capability to conduct fixed-wing strike operations with F/A-18C Hornets and F-35B Lighting IIs against adversarial naval combatants in a distributed, maritime environment.
“The Summer Fury long-range strike is an opportunity for 3rd MAW to execute a maritime strike against an enemy surface combatant while being supported by an aerial-delivered forward arming and refueling point,” said Lt. Col. Duncan A. French, 3rd MAW lead operations planner. “The concepts and tasks inherent in this mission are critical to the success of a fight against a peer adversary.”
3rd MAW, with a combination of organic aircraft and joint enablers, will conduct Summer Fury from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Kirtland Air Force Base, and surrounding key locations along the western United States.
This exercise will showcase the aviation combat power of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and all its functions,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, 3rd MAW commanding general. “You will see expeditionary naval combat power across a wide range of terrain and combat scenarios. From sophisticated communications systems to expeditionary basing to the decisive power of 5th generation platforms, our leading-edge tactics and capabilities are honed to a fine edge. Make no mistake about it, 3rd MAW is ready to fight and win- whenever and wherever that fight takes us.”
Summer Fury 21 will continue until July 30, during which 3rd MAW squadrons will execute additional missions, including support of advanced naval bases and anti-air warfare, culminating in a missile shoot, all while maintaining a variety of distributed command and control centers.
3rd MAW continues to “Fix, Fly and Fight” as the Marine Corps’ largest aircraft wing, and remains combat-ready, deployable on short notice, and lethal when called into action.
This article was published by 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing on July 8, 2021.
