The Australian Army Works the Shadow for Targeting Solutions

09/05/2021

By Petty Office Lee-anne Cooper

M777A2 Howitzers were brought into action ready to fire. Tiger helicopters established battle positions ready to engage targets.

But the Shadow 200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and their targeting lasers were the stars of the show on exercise Dragon Sprint.

The exercise was held at the Townsville Field Training Area from June 21-23, and the UAVs were flown by gunners of the 131st Battery, 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.

The Shadows designated targets for artillery and close-air support from about 9000 feet above the battlefield.

Laser-designated coordinates fed to the gun line enabled fire missions to be undertaken at maximum range, while Tigers launched Hellfire missiles that the Shadows guided onto their targets using laser.

Huddled around a screen in a viewing tent, eager drone operators watched three dots forming a triangular sight held over a target.

There was silence and a collective breath was drawn as the personnel waited for the Hellfire to strike in the battery’s first laser-guided live-fire task since 2017.

20th Regiment Adjutant Captain Christopher Moroney said using Shadows for target acquisition meant less risk to other assets.

“Shadow can designate a vehicle-size target with as much accuracy as a Tiger. This reduces the risk to the Tiger – or another manned platform – doing it for itself,” he said.

“This, however, does not replace the ground-based observer, as we are a weather-dependant system.”

A forward observer still had to see the target before firing, but using the Shadow meant they didn’t need to get so close to the target, according to gun detachment commander Bombardier Bryson Smith, from the 106th Battery, 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.

“The target location depends on how close they need to be to that target,” Bombardier Smith said.

“They have to have a good line of sight to call in effective fire, so with UAVs, they do not need to be as close to the target and you can get a better acquisition and we can fire more effective rounds.”

With a range of 125km, the Shadow can fly well past the artillery’s maximum range.

This was further extended during the exercise by dislocating the Shadow operators 50km from the airfield, creating a battery forward position.

Laser designation principles mean the closer the Shadow is to the target, the more accurate it will be, and during the exercise, 12 successful Hellfire designations were achieved.

“Apart from range and target information, we can provide video, stills and have the ability to observe day and night using infrared,” Captain Moroney said.

“Being an aerial observer, it gives us a better perspective of the battlefield and you always want height and good optics to engage the target. This allows adjustments to be made more efficiently.”

Captain Moroney said the development of the capability was driven by the progression of training.

“First, we work in the simulator, and then practise it and execute it for real,” he said.

“It ultimately proves the system works and the soldiers are ready.”

The training value of Exercise Dragon Sprint was also extended to the School of Army Aviation, which brought in their aircraft and crews.

The school’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Doré, said the school brought their entire Tiger training staff along with three trainee pilots to the exercise, and it was the first time they had worked with the 20th Regiment.

“It is a unique opportunity for us to develop our staff and for our trainees to see and be exposed to training they would not normally have the opportunity to at this point,” he said.

“We train our gunnery on a simulator and you do not get all the learning associated with expending live rounds and going through the range safety planning involved with a live-fire activity.”

The forward arming and refuelling point was also abuzz with activity, with significant ground assets required to support the aircraft.

Staff from the School of Army Aviation will look at the feasibility of supporting similar exercises in the future with benefits also identified for ground crew.

“Our aircraft support staff are not just refuelling, they are practising the core skills of loading ordnance onto an aircraft from a deployed location in the field, which is what our tradesmen joined the Army to do,” Lieutenant Colonel Doré said.

Exercise Dragon Sprint was the final in a series leading up to Exercise Talisman Sabre 21.

This was published by the Australian Department of Defence on July 2, 2021.

The featured photo: A Shadow 200 UAV is launched during Exercise Dragon Sprint at Townsville Field Training Area. Photo: Petty Officer Lee-Ann Cooper

Working Integrated Fires in the Pacific: Col. Miagany, G-3, MARFORPAC

09/03/2021

By Robbin Laird

During my visit to Honolulu in early August 2021, I visited MARFORPAC for several days. I had been last there in 2014-2015, so had a chance to look at changes underway since then. One of those changes has been the focus on naval integration and how the Marines can provide for integrated fires for the fleet.

I had a chance to discuss this with Colonel Ricardo Miagany, Assistant Chief of Staff of the G-3, or the operations directorate of MARFORPAC. Col. Miagany is an experienced artillery officer, whose last assignment was at Camp Pendleton as the commander of the  11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

This is how Col. Miagany highlighted how he saw the change underway in the USMC with regard to Pacific operations in his domain of expertise.

“I think that it was very interesting to me when the commandant’s planning guidance came out a few years ago, one of the things that stood out to me right away was when he said that he wanted Marines fighting on, from, and to the sea. That really resonated with me.

“At times, as an artillery officer, we’re geared for larger-scale, ground-up, ground combat operations. The division fight, if you will. But the commandant’s focus is very clear, that we are trying to offer a different value proposition in the joint force, and that by focusing on our amphibious nature, and focusing on our ability to operate at sea, aboard amphibious shipping, to transition from the sea for operations ashore, or to operate from the shore to sea. I think that’s where we can offer capabilities and capacity that joint force doesn’t currently have or hasn’t had.”

The termination of the INF treaty is a key part of the way ahead, notably if the United States builds out longer range fires, formerly prohibited by the INF treaty. This is how Col. Miagany put it: “When we stepped out of the INF treaty, that opened the door for the development of long-range precision fires. So now we can pursue systems, ground systems, that could reach out and impact the maritime domain.”

But these weapons are not yet here.

What the Marines are focusing on is leveraging the weapons they currently employ and reshaping the template of how to contribute fires in support of naval operations. Part of the changing template encompassed by Marines operating in the Pacific theater involves how reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance is worked.

As Col. Miagany put it: “We are focusing in developing greater proficiency and capacity on sensing and holding custody of maritime targets for engagement with our own organic fires or that of the joint force. We see this as a key role for III MEF units or what we are now calling Stand in Forces.”

Col. Miagany added: “When you consider the Pacific and the geography of the Pacific, there’s some pretty key choke points and sea lines of communication that we want to make sure remain free and open. I think we can provide value, to the fleet, because multiple different types of platforms can address threats in the maritime domain.

“If we become an integrated capability with the fleet, that frees up multi-mission platforms like destroyers, or Burke-class destroyers, that have multiple different missions. We can take something off their plate. We can secure a strait, and protect a SLOC, thereby bringing capacity and capability back to the fleet, by covering down on a task, for example. I think that’s where, to me, the value of what the commandant has laid out, and what we’re pursuing, from a fires standpoint.”

Shaping the template for fires by being able to operate ashore and provide strike mobility is part of the template being shaped, again prior to having the long-range weapons which can more effectively empower the new approach.

For Col. Miagany: “What we’re learning to do is how to be survivable, by using the micro-terrain. You have to seek cover and concealment. You can hide inside within an archipelago, and your signature management, to the degree that you can be more expeditionary and more self-sufficient, will cut down the long logistics lines or your frequency of resupply.

“There’s also a husbanding of assets. You only going to have so many shots, so you got to wait patiently for the right shot, or the right point in time to take your shot. Because after firing, you certainly have created a signature, so now I’ve got to pick up, move, dislocate, reposition, and get into another position of advantage to be able to still impact the enemy.

“You’re hidden until you’re found, or you’re hidden until you expose yourself. And then the key is, all right, I’ve created a signature, but can I displace, and can I reposition before he has an opportunity to respond.”

Although the using cover, concealment, fires and maneuver are well developed by the USMC, what is new is adapting and developing improved tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to deal with the evolving Pacific challenge.

There are many challenges to full implementation of this approach, including the question of firing authorities involving U.S. Navy and USAF operations, including those of coalition partners as well. This is a kill web approach as well to integrated fires which will require working through the sensor-shooter relationships in a distributed battlespace.

Col. Miagany highlighted that the Marines are working the challenge, again understood as shaping a template for future capabilities as well as reworking what can done with the shorter-range systems which the Marines possess at present. “The strength we have as Marines is our willingness to take on a a new mission or a mission redefined, with a different set of capabilities, and the ingenuity that Marines bring to bear.

“We have our artillery battalion here, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, on Hawaii, here on Oahu. And they have routinely exercised and trained with U.S. Navy destroyers and also allied destroyers that have come to the island and worked through the physics of making sure that all the right aspects are talking to each other, so that if there are Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPRA) aircraft overhead, and there’s a destroyer at sea, and then the 12th Marine C2 elements ashore, they are all talking to each other on the net, and work to exchange targeting information.

The template piece of this is clear. By working through with current technology, the Marines and the joint force are shaping capabilities that will be enhanced when longer range strike weapons are available.

As Col. Miagany put it: “Even though we do not have those weapons, which are still being developed, we’ll know how to employ them as soon as they arrive. As soon as it is delivered by the acquisition process, we will already know what we want to do with it, and how we want to put it into the fight. And that we’ve done that jointly, and that we’ve done that in partnership with the Navy and also the joint force.”

The shift is significant.

Col. Miagany underscored how significant it is. “Ground artillery, cannon artillery, support large-scale ground combat operations. If we don’t anticipate the likelihood of finding ourselves in another large-scale ground combat op, then we need to pursue capabilities that are a benefit to the fleet and the joint force.

“It is about presenting a credible threat that has a deterrent effect on our adversary. At least cause them to think twice, cause them to reconsider the calculus or, again, cause them to pause and stop and give thought to analyze, what are U.S. forces doing in theater? How are they positioning? With what distributed capabilities? For what periods of time?

“We are looking to present our adversaries with a challenging problem that they have to address. We are looking to take the initiative with regard to adversaries, as opposed to sitting back and simply reacting to them. Our activity, our focus, our initiative drives their reaction to us.”

Although the Marines in the Pacific are becoming more focused on maritime fires, the continue to focus as well on ground fires capability as well.

According to . Col. Miagany: “We still retain a significant ground fires capability within the Marine division, especially the Blue Diamond. Our MEUs are deploying with cannon batteries still and some have added rocket artillery. The most recent example was the deployment of the 15th MEU who deployed with a HIMARS platoon from 5/11 along with a cannon battery from 1/11.”

There is as well the amphibious piece of this effort, whereby operations at sea can play out in the re-calibrating of how the Marines can deliver integrated fires as well. I discussed the amphibious aspects in other meetings and interviews while at MARFORPAC, but Col. Miagany closed with a very interesting perspective on the amphibious side of the evolving capability picture.

“We have our Pacific Amphibious Leader Symposium, the one that General Rudder participates in and leads. There are a number of nations in the Pacific that have amphibious forces. By focusing on proactive defense and weaponization, capabilities can be shaped more cost effectively going forward. These types of weapons systems are lot cheaper than building high-end ships, destroyers and cruisers and aircraft carriers, et cetera.

“There’s an economy of scale here that is appealing for smaller nations. And you must consider foreign military sales opportunities as well. We strive to be the duty expert about amphibiosity and help our allies and partners become proficient. And by so doing enhance allied and partner capacity and in effect, creating a mobile force that complicates the adversary’s targeting and which adds deterrent value as well.”

In short, for the fires element of the USMC change is underway to deal with the dynamics of change within the threat envelope in the Pacific.

Col. Miagany summed up the change as follows: “The Commandant of the USMC has made the decision to weight rocket artillery capability for both ground operations and maritime fires.

“We will certainly strive to find the right balance that makes us more relevant.

“To  achieve a deterrent effect in competition, below the threshold of violence but to also be ready for contingency or crisis operations when they arise. Additionally, the Marine Corps is pursuing new loitering munition technologies to enhance the lethality of our infantry units at greater ranges.”

Featured Photo: Lt. Col. Ricardo Miagany, the commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, shakes hands with Yohei Wakabayashi, the mayor of Gotemba City, June 15, 2011. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the Artillery Relocation Training Program 2011 at the East Fuji Maneuver Area and to assure local governments that training will be conducted in a safe and responsible manner.

CAMP FUJI, AICHI, JAPAN

06.15.2011

III Marine Expeditionary Forc

 

Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021: The Air Element

According to the Australian Department of Defence:

“Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21) is the largest bilateral training activity between Australia and the United States, commencing on July 14 2021.

“Held every two years, TS21 aims to test Australian interoperability with the United States and other participating forces in complex warfighting scenarios.

“In addition to the united States, TS21 involves participating forces from Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

“The exercise includes a Field Training Exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations.”

An FCAS Update: August 2021

09/01/2021

By Pierre Tran

Paris – The French, German and Spanish defense ministers signed yesterday their third intergovernmental agreement on work on the Future Combat Air System, covering 2021-2027, the three ministries said Aug. 31 in a joint statement.

“On this occasion, they have signed the third implementing arrangement of the NGWS/FCAS (Next Generation Weapon System within a Future Combat Air System) program, which frames its activities over the period 2021-2027,” the statement said.

The statement referred to an Aug. 30 meeting of Florence Parly, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Esperanza Casteleiro Llamazares, respectively the defense ministers of France, Germany, and Spain.

The partner nations seek to fly a technology demonstrator for a new generation fighter jet and remote carrier drone in 2027.

The three nations have agreed a total budget of €8.6 billion ($10.2 billion), with an initial €3.6 billion for work on phase 1B in 2021-2024, the private office of Parly said, business website La Tribune reported Aug. 31, with that amount equally shared among the partner nations.

A further €5 billion was earmarked for phase 2, which would run 2024 to 2027, the report said.

Meanwhile, the British-led project for a Tempest new generation fighter and its drones was expected to feature prominently at the DSEI trade show due to run in London Sept. 14-17.

The intergovernmental agreement between Berlin, Paris and Madrid was a political commitment to support work on FCAS in the coming years, and the next critical step will be for the nations to sign industrial contracts with Airbus and Dassault Aviation.

“Negotiations are continuing,” an industry executive said on the contracts. “There are still issues to be resolved.”

Dassault has sought to negotiate a contract that protected intellectual property rights and also met its claim for work shares. Airbus, through its German and Spanish units, stood to win the bulk of the work share.

The French family-controlled company is prime contractor on the new generation fighter, the key element, along with remote carrier drones, in the Next Generation Weapon System.

Le Figaro ran May 18 an interview with the Dassault executive chairman, in which Eric Trappier told the daily that discussions were still continuing between governments and industry, and an agreement had yet to be reached.

The private office of Parly expected contracts between the companies and the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office to be signed “in the next few weeks,” La Tribune reported Aug. 31.

There were different timetables, the industry executive said, pointing to political calendars and companies’ concerns on a program expected to span decades.

The air chiefs of staff of the three partner nations also signed an agreement Aug. 30 on common operational requirements on the future combat air system, La Tribune reported.

The political agreement was made possible by the June 23 approval by the German parliamentary budgetary committee for Berlin’s share of a budget for FCAS.

The three ministers pointed up the significance of the intergovernmental agreement.

“In the continuity of the work already achieved since 2019, it launches a new step that will lead to the first flight demonstrations in 2027,” the statement said.

“The signing of this arrangement confirms the commitment of Germany, Spain and France to the development of a new generation combat aviation capable of facing future threats and challenges.”

The program also was important for sovereignty for Europe.

“The NGWS/FCAS program also contributes to maintaining a dynamic European industrial and technological base, thereby helping to strengthen European sovereignty.”

The Next Generation Weapon System will be at the core of the Future Combat Air System, which will consist of manned and unmanned aircraft hooked up on a combat cloud command and control network.

Other aircraft linked up on that network will include a planned medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, A400M transport turboprop, A330 multirole tanker transport, Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, and F-35 fighters.

Summer Fury 21: Sonobouy Operations

U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) utilize sonobuoys during Summer Fury 21 above the Pacific Ocean, July 20, 2021.

Sonobuoys are an expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare in support of Summer Fury.

Summer Fury is an exercise conducted by 3rd MAW in order to maintain and build capability, strength, and trust within its units to generate the readiness and lethality needed to deter and defeat adversaries during combat operations as the U.S. Marine Corps refines tactics and equipment in accordance with Force Design 2030.

SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND, CA.

07.20.2021

Video by Cpl. Nicolas Atehortua

Next Phase of Team Tempest

08/30/2021

According to a story published on July 29, 2021 on the UK Ministry of Defence website, a new £250 million contract for next phase for Future Combat Air System has been signed.

The Ministry of Defence has signed a £250 million contract with British industry ‘Team Tempest’ partners, driving forward the next phase of the major national and international endeavour to develop the next generation of combat air, the Defence Secretary has today announced.

Known as Tempest, the Future Combat Air System is expected to combine a core aircraft with a whole network of capabilities such as uncrewed aircraft and advanced data systems to form a next-generation mix designed to enter service from the mid-2030s.

Marking the formal start of the programme’s Concept and Assessment phase, the contract is worth an initial £250 million and is planned to grow further. The investment forms part of more than £2 billion worth of UK Government spending on the project over the next 4 years, as announced in the recent Defence Command Paper.

The contract will see investment in the digital and physical infrastructure on which the programme will be developed, putting it on a ‘digital first’ footing whereby simulated design and testing can significantly reduce costs, time and emissions.

The Defence Secretary made the announcement at BAE Systems’ site in Warton. Warton is the centre of development for the programme and is home to the ‘Factory of the Future’, a highly connected facility with state-of-the-art technology designed to showcase a revolutionary approach to manufacturing military aircraft.

The contract has been signed with BAE Systems,one of the four founding members of ‘Team Tempest’, which also includes partners Leonardo UK, Rolls Royce and MBDA UK. Around 800 of the 2,000 jobs supported by the contract are based in the North of England, across sites in Warton, Samlesbury and Brough. BAE Systems has flowed collaborative support contracts directly with the core ‘Team Tempest’ partners Leonardo UK, Rolls-Royce and MBDA. As a result, further jobs supported by the programme are also spread across areas including Edinburgh, Luton, Stevenage and Bristol.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

Today marks a momentous step in the next phase of our Future Combat Air System, with a multi-million pound investment that draws on the knowledge and skills of our UK industry experts.

Boosting our already world-leading air industry, the contract will sustain thousands of jobs across the UK and will ensure that the UK remains at the top table when it comes to combat air.

Now officially underway, the Concept and Assessment phase will:

  • define and begin to design the future combat air system
  • mature technologies across the system
  • invest in the skilled workforce
  • secure digital and physical infrastructure and tools that underpin cutting-edge digital engineering, data and software-based systems
  • enable major programme choices by 2024

UK Director of Future Combat Air, Richard Berthon said:

This project is hugely important in ensuring the UK and its partners have the skills and technology we need to give us the battle-winning edge for the future.

Developing the system allows us to drive a revolution in digital development and harness the power of open systems architecture. We are looking forward to working together with UK industry and international partners to create and deliver a system which will keep us safe for decades to come.

The programme to design a future combat air system is a major international endeavour, and the UK will deliver it with international partners. Last year, the UK, Italy and Sweden signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the project. Together the three countries aspire to develop the concepts, sharing workload while maximising their national expertise as they strive towards a common goal.

During his visit to Tokyo last week, the Defence Secretary and Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi also agreed to accelerate discussions between the UK and Japan on developing sub-systems for a Future Combat Air System. This included intensifying efforts to explore working together on power and propulsion. International partnership has been central to the Combat Air Strategy from the outset, and the UK is open to welcoming other partners onboard.

According to research conducted by professional services company PWC earlier this year on behalf of Team Tempest, the ongoing work of the four Team Tempest partners and their supply chains in support of UK combat air activities could support around 62,000 jobs per year and contribute in the region of £100 billion to the UK economy between 2021 and 2050.

The Future Combat Air System is supported by the £24 billion uplift in defence spending, announced by the Prime Minister last year. This partnership between the MOD and industry, also forms an integral part of the MOD’s recently published Defence, Security and Industrial Strategy (DSIS).

Featured Graphic: Tempest aircraft concept. Crown copyright.

Summer Fury 21: EABO Training

U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 267, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) fly from Marine Corps Air Station Pendleton to Helicopter Outlying Landing Field (HOLF) to prepare for flight operations at Camp Pendleton, California, July 19, 2021.

HMLA 267 flew to the HOLF in support of 3rd MAW’s Summer Fury where they set up a command and control node on a notional island to showcase their operational readiness in places alike to the Indo-Pacific region.

Summer Fury is an exercise conducted by 3rd MAW in order to maintain and build capability, strength and trust within its units to generate the readiness and lethality needed to deter and defeat adversaries during combat operations as the U.S. Marine Corps refines tactics and equipment in accordance with Force Design 2030.

MCAS PENDLETON, CA, UNITED STATES 07.20.2021 Video by Lance Cpl. Rachaelanne Woodward 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing