F-22 at Sentry Savanah Exercises.Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier fourth- and fifth-generation fighter integration exercise, with this year’s event involving more than 1,000 participants and 56 aircraft from eight flying units.
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
01.17.2025
Video by Master Sgt. Rafael Rosa
165th Airlift Wing
By Pierre Tran
Paris – Britain and Germany have pledged to boost military spending in response to Russia’s bloody advance on Ukraine and uncertainty about U.S. defense efforts in Europe, sparking questions on how those funds will be found and what the rearmament drives will yield.
Those two allied nations have highly distinct public attitudes to arms manufacture and the military, and both the British and German political leaders need to win support for the pursuit of weapons, and more combat capable forces.
Talks for a ceasefire between a fairly junior team from Moscow and a delegation from Kyiv opened May 16 in Istanbul, with President Vladimir Putin notably staying away. The absence of the latter fuelled Western doubts on the good faith of the Russian leader, while heightening a perceived military threat from Moscow.
In which country does a company sell buttery biscuits with commemorative packaging featuring a second world war fighter plane?
A Marks & Spencer box of shortbread biscuit proudly bears a picture of the Spitfire in tribute to the 80th anniversary of the May 8 Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). In the U.K., there is a special place for the Supermarine Spitfire, Britain’s iconic second world war fighter.
Those calling in at the Spitfire visitor center at Hangar 42, Blackpool airport, northeast England, can sit in the cockpit of a Spitfire Mk IX for a fee of £10 ($13). There is also a Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Me109 on display, but the center is named after the Spitfire, which has pride of place.
Much depends on whether that national nostalgia for the air combat star of the 1940 Battle of Britain can be transmuted into support for a switch in public spending to boost the services.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has said the U.K. will speed up an increase in the defense budget to an annual 2.5 pct to 2027, and 3.0 pct in a second term after 2029 – assuming re-election. That compares to the present military spending of 2.3 pct of gross domestic product.
Starmer made those commitments a couple of days before he met President Donald Trump Feb. 27 in the White House, leading London’s drive to strengthen ties and persuade Washington to cut tariffs on British-built goods such as Jaguar, Mini, and Rolls-Royce cars, and steel and aluminium.
The U.K. will fund much of the military budget increase to 2.7 pct with a switch of funds earmarked for foreign aid, which will fall to 0.3 pct from 0.5 pct of GDP.
Lower support for overseas projects means less government funding for the BBC World Service, which supporters such as Martin Bell, ex-parliamentarian and former BBC war reporter, see as Britain’s soft power counterweight to disinformation from China and Russia.
The U.K. government is also diverting spending for the disabled and winter fuel payments for the elderly, which has drawn fierce criticism from Labour parliamentarians.
Starmer is leader of the center-left Labour party, which came to power almost a year ago with a surprise majority of 174 parliamentary seats. That tidal wave of support for Labour may have been seen as electoral punishment of the Conservative party, but the May 1 elections for local councils served a drubbing to both Labour and Conservatives, ushering in councillors from the Reform U.K. party.
The latter is a far-right, anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, a parliamentarian who campaigned for Brexit and is a keen Trump supporter.
Starmer’s pursuit of public support could be seen with his VE Day speech, announcing a £563 mln contract for Rolls-Royce to service engines on the RAF’s 130-strong fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.
That keynote speech at the London Defence conference included a clear shift and rebranding in U.K. policy. Starmer spoke of “a defence dividend – that will be felt in the pockets of working people and the prosperity of the country.”
Starmer underlined the perceived threat of Russian advance on Ukraine and the pursuit of rearmament, emphasising employment and economic growth. The U.K. leader spoke of the U.S. as an “indispensable ally,” but he made it clear that came second to a higher priority: “Make no mistake – I will always act in our national interest for workers, businesses and families…”
National security came first, he said, while the second concern was “to create jobs, wealth and opportunity in every corner of our country.”
Assuming the British Exchequer will find and release the promised funds, analysts say it is not clear the forces will receive more weapons promptly as there are other military needs calling for a higher place in the budgetary queue.
“The first challenge they have is there are more priorities than there is actually money to spend,” said Matthew Saville, director of military sciences at the Royal United Service Institute, the BBC reported May 9.
“I think the first thing that they’ll be looking at is actually to fill out some of the gaps that there are in defense and improve the foundations,” he said. That meant spending on training and recruitment, infrastructure, and accommodation, rather than kit such as tanks and aircraft.
The importance of recruitment could be seen with Serco, a service provider, saying Feb. 6 it had won a £1 billion, seven-year contract to recruit personnel for the British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and Strategic Command. There is an option for a three-year extension, bringing the value to £1.5 billion if that were exercised.
The U.K. and the 27 European Union member states are due to meet in London May 19 for a summit, which includes an agreement on defense and security. Britain hopes it will win access to the E.U. ‘s planned €150 bln loan facility for military spending, under the European ReArm project.
Germany Seeks Larger Role
Meanwhile in Berlin, the newly elected chancellor, Friedrich Merz, succeeded in March in winning Bundestag parliamentary support for higher German military spending, which required relaxing strict fiscal rules on debt written in the constitution.
Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrat party, even left open May 9 the possibility of the European Union raising loans to spend on EU military programs.
Germany has been guided by deep distrust of debt, having learnt lessons of hyperinflation and the loss of value of the German mark in the 1920s, which partly led to the rise of Nazism.
Alongside fiscal lessons of a conflicted past which led to the 1933 election of the far right, there has been a strain of pacifism in German society after the second world war.
An institutional pacifism could be seen with a readiness to send not much more than helmets to help Ukrainian forces in the weeks after the Russian assault in 2022.
Berlin has in the past deployed troops mainly for training and support missions, not combat.
Germany was among the first of Western allies to send troops to Afghanistan, initially its special forces under the U.S.-led Enduring Freedom anti-guerrilla operation. That was followed by what the Heinrich Boll Foundation, a German think tank, described as a “cautious peacekeeping mission” with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), under protection of a 2001 UN security council mandate.
The early German deployment to Kabul came before Taliban irregular fighters made clear a deadly determination to seize control, which led to a hasty U.S. evacuation, followed by its allies, in 2021.
Germany also deployed troops to Niger in 2023 as part of a E.U. military training program, after initially sending troops in 2018 to train Niger’s special forces. Those German troops pulled out of a Niamey air base in August last year.
Berlin withdrew troops based in Mali in 2023, after a decade of deployment there in support of the UN MINUSMA peacekeeping mission.
The Bundeswehr armed forces needs some 5,000 recruits to meet the 15,000-strong target for its voluntary military service, public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Dec. 4 2025.
There are more than 182,000 in active service, but the forces need pilots, computer specialists, electrical engineers and other skilled personnel, but there are few job applicants, DW reported, pointing to strong demand in the labor market for such skilled staff.
Even if the recruitment drive did attract new personnel, DW reported there was shortage of training and barracks. “Operational readiness” stood to suffer if the duty roster for a tank commander were reset to train recruits, rather than deploy to the Nato eastern flank.
It remains to be seen whether that training will arm the German forces with a martial spirit fit for fighting a war.
German Industry Rises
Meanwhile, German industry has prospered from the arms drive, both at home and abroad.
Rheinmetall has said it planned to convert two factories building car parts to “hybrid” plants capable of making protection and military parts. The plants will report to the company’s weapon and ammunition division, Reuters reported.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems said May 7 it had won a contract with Singapore to supply two more Type 218SG submarines, bringing the Singapore Navy’s fleet of Invincible-class boats to six. That order will boost TKMS’s order book, presently worth some €16 billion.
Meanwhile, the share price of European companies with core aeronautic businesses, including Dassault Aviation, Safran, and Thales, plunged May 12, even as stock markets rose on signs of less tension between Washington and Beijing in a tariff war launched by Trump.
That drop in stock prices may have been in response to the U.S. Commerce Department saying May 9 it had opened a national security inquiry in the import of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and parts, which may lead to higher tariffs on European-built kit.
President Donald Trump has outlined a dramatic foreign policy shift during his recent address in Saudi Arabia.
The speech signals what appears to be a fundamental realignment of American priorities in the Middle East and potentially reshapes the global balance of power.
A New Vision for the Middle East
Trump’s address presented a markedly different vision for the region than those of previous administrations. “The Middle East should be known for commerce, not chaos. It should be known for technology, not terrorism,” Trump declared in one of the speech’s most memorable lines. This statement encapsulates his administration’s approach: emphasizing economic development and self-determination over Western-imposed democratization efforts.
The president positioned Saudi Arabia as the model for this transformation, praising the kingdom’s efforts to diversify beyond oil and develop what he called “a modern empirical Arabian way.”
Rather than prescribing Western solutions, Trump emphasized that each nation should “be proud of their own legacy,” essentially reinstating power within the nation-state framework.
Strategic Realignment: Saudi Arabia as “Number One Ally”
Perhaps most significantly, Trump explicitly designated Saudi Arabia as America’s “number one ally” in the region—a designation that represents a seismic shift from traditional U.S. foreign policy.
This pivot from established Western alliances to prioritizing Middle Eastern partnerships signals what Murielle Delaporte has described as a move “from Reykjavik to Riyadh.”
The address made clear that the Trump administration sees Saudi Arabia as the cornerstone of regional stability.
Trump highlighted the kingdom’s transformation and urged other nations to follow its example, particularly focusing on economic development and technological advancement rather than ideological battles.
The Iranian Question
Trump drew a sharp distinction between what he characterized as the stabilizing influence of Arab states and the destabilizing role of Iran.
While offering what he called “an olive branch” to Tehran, he simultaneously issued a warning that “repercussions will be real” if Iran continues its current policies.
In one particularly revealing moment, Trump observed: “I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don’t like permanent enemies, but sometimes you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right.”
This statement provides insight into Trump’s transactional approach to international relations.
Syria Policy Reversal
In one of the speech’s most concrete policy announcements, Trump declared he would lift sanctions on Syria—a decision he attributed directly to the influence of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
In effect, he indicated that due to the role that Saudi Arabia and Turkey have played, they have changed his mind and that removing sanctions would give Syria “the best chance of success moving forward.”
This decision marks a significant departure from long-standing U.S. policy and signals the growing influence of regional powers in American decision-making regarding the Middle East.
Implications for Europe
The speech carries significant implications for Europe’s role in global affairs.
As the U.S. pivots toward Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern partners, European nations may need to recalibrate their own relationships with both America and the Middle East.
The president’s emphasis on Turkey’s role in regional negotiations suggests he may be attempting to influence European affairs through this NATO member that straddles Europe and Asia.
With Turkey’s complex relationship with the European Union—recently complicated by a EU report questioning Turkey’s prospects for accession—these developments could further reshape transatlantic relationships.
Counter to Chinese and Russian Influence
Trump’s Middle East strategy appears designed, at least in part, to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
By offering an alternative partnership model to Gulf Cooperation Council nations, the administration seeks to prevent these countries from being drawn into what might be described as “a multi-polar authoritarian world” led by Beijing and Moscow.
A “Trump Effect” Beyond the Middle East
The president also highlighted diplomatic achievements beyond the Middle East, noting Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s successful brokering of cease-fire between India and Pakistan that helped de-escalate tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
This claim, if accurate, suggests the administration’s influence extends well beyond the immediate focus of the Saudi speech.
Conclusion: A Strategic Rethink
Trump’s address represents what appears to be a fundamental rethinking of America’s strategic approach to the Middle East and global affairs more broadly.
By emphasizing commerce over conflict, nation-state sovereignty over imposed democratization, and pivoting toward Saudi Arabia as America’s primary regional ally, the president has outlined a vision that breaks significantly with decades of U.S. foreign policy orthodoxy.
Whether this approach will succeed in bringing greater stability to the troubled region remains to be seen.
However, the speech clearly signals that the traditional frameworks for understanding U.S. engagement with the Middle East—and indeed, the broader international order—may require substantial revision.
Featured photo: President Donald J. Trump addresses U.S. forces, coalition partners and Qatari citizens at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, May 15, 2025. This marks Trump’s first official visit to the Middle East during his second presidency. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Moriarty).
See also the following:
Trump Outlines Vision for Middle East in Landmark Saudi Arabia Speech
U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 363, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) perform joint training with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37 during the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, Jan. 21, 2025.
The MCCRE is a formal evaluation of a unit based on approved Marine Corps Training and Readiness tasks, conditions, and standards to ensure standardization and combat readiness.
01.21.2025
An interview with Major Sean Timothy Penczak, Operations Officer with VMM-162
By Robbin Laird
The MV-22 Osprey has come a long way since its early days as a novel tiltrotor aircraft. What began as a specialized assault platform has evolved into an incredibly versatile multi-mission aircraft capable of transforming Marine Corps operations. In an interview held in his office at Marine Corps Air Station New River on April 30, 2025, Major Sean Timothy Penczak, Operations Officer with VMM-162, shared his extensive experience with the platform and provided insights into its evolving capabilities.
From Novice to Veteran
Major Penczak joined the Marine Corps in January 2009 and, after working briefly as a Logistics Officer, made his way to flight school. In 2012, he selected the MV-22 at a time when there were reportedly “less than 100 Osprey pilots in the fleet.” His career has included deployments to Afghanistan, Kuwait for Operation Inherent Resolve, Spain with the Special Purpose MAGTF Crisis Response Africa, Hawaii, and Australia.
Afghanistan: Proving the Platform
During his 2014 deployment to Afghanistan, Major Penczak participated in a pilot program called “Enhanced Casevac,” which demonstrated one of the Osprey’s unique advantages. While traditional helicopters were limited to a 40 nautical mile “golden hour” range, the MV-22 could reach that distance and return in just 20 minutes.
“I could get up off deck in less than 15 minutes, out to pick somebody up, and home in about 10 to 15 minutes,” Penczak recalled. “You can max blast out to get to a point of injury.”
This capability proved invaluable for casualty evacuation, allowing injured personnel to be transported to medical facilities within the critical “golden hour” timeframe. The aircraft’s unique combination of helicopter landing capability with fixed-wing speed and range made it ideal for this mission.
Self-Deployment: Beyond Traditional Constraints
One of the Osprey’s most revolutionary capabilities is its self-deployment range. Major Penczak described missions in Spain where the aircraft could “self-deploy to support units located in a lot of different areas,” hopping between islands across the Mediterranean without requiring the extensive logistical support needed by other aircraft.
In Australia, where Penczak participated in two Marine Rotational Force-Darwin deployments, the Osprey demonstrated similar advantages. “We could self-deploy ourselves all over Australia,” he noted, explaining how a journey that would take “multiple hops for our H-1 brethren” could be completed in a single hour-long flight by the MV-22.
The Payload Revolution
As the interview progressed, the discussion turned to the “payload revolution.” The Osprey has evolved from primarily transporting Marines to supporting a much wider range of mission sets through various payloads and configurations.
“What do you want to put on the bird to utilize?” Penczak asked rhetorically. The aircraft can be configured for numerous roles:
Major Penczak highlighted a recent exercise in the Bahamas where the Osprey demonstrated its exceptional transport capabilities. The platform efficiently moved an individual who required medical treatment from a remote island to Miami in under 40 minutes – a rapid transit performance that distinguishes the Osprey from other aviation platforms.
Digital Backbone: The Next Evolution
Looking to the future, a significant enhancement which I believe is important for the Osprey is the implementation of a new digital backbone. This upgrade would allow greater flexibility in integrating various payloads without extensive integration with the airplane’s systems, enabling operators to be more responsive to mission needs.
“The less computers, less weight,” Penczak posited, noting how the incorporation of smaller, more advanced systems could further enhance the aircraft’s capabilities while reducing physical constraints, enabling a variety of different payloads for different missions.
Training for Multi-Mission Capability
Operating such a versatile platform presents unique training challenges. Major Penczak explained the deliberate and progressive approach to pilot development, with a minimum of approximately 500 hours of flight time required before pilots can become aircraft commanders.
The training pipeline builds from basic flight skills to advanced tactical employment, including night operations, low-altitude tactics, aerial refueling, and specialized mission sets like hoist operations. Simulation plays a crucial role in this process, allowing pilots to practice complex scenarios before executing them in the aircraft.
Distributed Aviation Operations
The interview concluded with a discussion of how the Osprey supports the concept of Distributed Aviation Operations (DAO), particularly in potential island-chain scenarios. The MV-22’s ability to operate from austere locations without requiring established runways makes it invaluable for this operational concept.
“Marines aren’t going to sit at an airfield. That’s just not what Marines are supposed to do,” Penczak noted. The Osprey can connect these distributed forces, delivering personnel, equipment, and supplies to locations inaccessible to fixed-wing aircraft or surface connectors.
Conclusion
From its early days as a specialized assault platform to its current role as a multi-mission enabler, the MV-22 Osprey has proven itself as a transformative capability for the Marine Corps. As Major Penczak put it, the Osprey represents “the best of both worlds,” combining the vertical landing capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.
As the platform continues to evolve with new technology and tactics, its central role in Marine Corps operations seems assured in the period ahead.
The paradigm shift in maritime operations involves moving away from concentrating power in capital ships to distributing capabilities across a network of assets.
Distributed Maritime Effects (DME) are the effects created by this distributed force, often independent of or supplemental to traditional capital ship operations which are increasingly focused on distributed maritime operations.
The book highlights the move from traditional capital ship-centric warfare to a distributed, kill web-enabled force. It highlights the importance of integrating autonomous systems and modular capabilities for enhanced combat effectiveness.
Distributed maritime effects will increasingly be created by the use of non-capital ship maritime assets. Air and sea autonomous systems coupled with manned air will generate a core combined capability to deliver the kinds of combat clusters which can create distributed maritime effects supplemental to or independent of the operation of capital ships themselves.
The book explores the potential of maritime autonomous systems (MAS) to deliver distributed maritime operations (DMO) effects. The book also focuses on how the legacy shipbuilding approach contrasts with innovative, modular approaches for rapidly building and deploying naval forces.
The book argues for a rethinking of maritime strategy that embraces autonomous technologies, distributed forces, and innovative acquisition models.
As LtGen (Retired) Steve Rudder notes in the forward to the book:”Dr. Robbin Laird has been leading the reporting on Unmanned Systems and Kill Webs for many years and has been producing forward thinking pieces on the evolution of autonomy. At each achievement, whether it be Ukraine, TF-59 in the Arabian Gulf, or the Australian Defence Force, his articles and books have provided a window into the future dominance of autonomous maritime systems and the journey into the Kill Web.”
“From the technology standpoint, when we talk of autonomous weapons, swarming technology and the associated approvals to employ are governed by the recently updated DOD DIRECTIVE 3000.09, AUTONOMY IN WEAPON SYSTEMS. 3000.09 requirements established in the Directive include the following: “Autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems will be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.”
“Today’s industry has the technology to field unmanned capabilities today thus we should not celebrate lengthy testing and analysis. We should embrace current technology and field systems today.”
“The possibilities are endless for unmanned surface craft and the teaming with unmanned aircraft. The capability to extend the eyes and ears of the Naval fleets and patrol contested waters requires the fielding and deployment of these vessels inside the current acquisition process.”
“These capabilities are “off the shelf” and, as Robbin appropriately states, are coming WHETHER YOU WANT IT OR NOT.”
For a podcast discussing the book, see the following:
A Paradigm Shift in Maritime Operations: Autonomous Systems and Their Impact
U.S. Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 252 participate in a cold-weather training exercise alongside the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 436 Transport Squadron at 8 Wing/Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Jan. 16-18, 2025.
VMGR-252 and the 436 Transport Squadron participated in this exercise to improve interoperability and increase proficiency and experience maintaining and operating KC-30J aircraft in cold and extreme cold weather conditions.
ONTARIO, CANADA
01.18.2025
The Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) 2025 Symposium is going on this week from May 12 through the 15h in Dallas Texas.
We are publishing a piece highlighting the role of one of the somewhat undervalued aviation capabilities which the Marine Corps operates today, namely the H-1 helicopters.
By Allen Grinalds
In the opening hours of Operation Iraqi Freedom, one of the first enemy targets was an Iraqi command and control site at Safwan Hill, near the Line of Departure. Armed with unguided rockets, U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters closed to within 800 meters.
At 3:00 AM on a moonless night, the operation carried substantial risk of our Cobras taking both hostile and friendly fire—with multiple ground and air units from U.S. and allied forces all maneuvering and shooting at the same time. Despite the considerable hazards, we accomplished the mission unscathed.
Fast forward to today, and the capabilities of those same H-1 rotorcraft—the AH-1Z Viper and the UH-1Y Venom—are continually being transformed to the point that someday soon we will be able to take out a target like the one at Safwan Hill from over 150 miles away with a single precision-guided missile.
That ability to “reach out and touch someone” becomes even more important when considering the vast distances involved in the Indo-Pacific theater. The 2025 Marine Aviation Plan underscores the importance of delivering sustained fires with the extended reach and lethality that Combatant Commanders need on the battlefield today.
An essential contributor to the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) and its Aviation Combat Element (ACE) is its complement of H-1 helicopters, which perform all six functions of Marine Aviation to include Offensive Air Support (OAS), Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Assault Support, Air Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare (EW), and Control of Aircraft and Missiles.
In the early 2000s, investments were made to ensure the H-1s kept pace with the evolving threats on a modern battlefield. Now, over two decades later, we again need to make investments in the Structural Improvement Electrical Power Upgrade (SIEPU) to keep USMC H-1s ready and relevant across the full range of operations for the next decade.
The H-1 Today
The H-1 is fully integrated into the Marine Corps concepts of operation, but like any aircraft, it has limitations that prevent a more lethal pairing with evolving technologies throughout the force.
In some cases, fifth generation fixed-wing aircraft cannot engage certain target types without exposure to the enemy’s radar-guided anti-air assets. Current H-1 aircraft could compensate for this shortfall through exploitation of the low-altitude deficiencies of enemy radar systems. However, today’s H-1 rotorcraft must maneuver dangerously close to enemy forces to be able to do so.
The H-1’s shortfalls in state-of-the-art electronic warfare protection, sensor capabilities, advanced self-defense capabilities, and weapon system integration expose H-1s to both radar-guided and advanced infra-red (IR) surface-to-air missiles; preclude the use of net-enabled weapons; and as a result place H-1s at risk as they must close within enemy weapon engage zones to detect, recognize, and identify enemy targets. These vulnerabilities prevent operational commanders from integrating H-1s into high-threat operations and allow our adversaries additional room to impede the Combatant Commander’s operational plans.
Increased Electrical Power Generation Enhances Survivability and Lethality
The Marine Corps is turning to SIEPU to upgrade Venom and Viper combat performance, address shortfalls in electrical power generation, and make needed structural improvements to the Venom’s cabin. The components of SIEPU include:
These SIEPU improvements will directly address many of the H-1’s current limitations by providing advanced protection against both radar-guided and IR-guided missiles, allow H-1s to receive enemy target locations from third-party platforms such as the F-35, and enable the use of precision weapons with ranges up to ten times greater than those currently employed. With SIEPU improvements, H-1s can be safely integrated into high-threat operations with the ability to engage enemy targets from locations undetectable to the enemy.
The SIEPU program will not only increase H-1 lethality and survivability but will also provide a synergistic improvement to U.S. warfighting capabilities by allowing both our Fixed Wing and H-1 assets to operate from tactical sanctuaries where our enemies are either unable to detect, or unable to engage, our aviation strike packages. In essence, the SIEPU program will allow Combatant Commanders to overcome tactical advantages currently enjoyed by our adversaries. To that end, the Marine Corps has incorporated SIEPU into its recently released Aviation Plan, which notes:
“Every investment in H-1s over the next two FYDPs is essential to maintaining a ready crisis response force, pivotal to reduce risk in the development of H-1 Next, and critical to bridge the gap for the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) as it transforms into a fully modernized fleet.”
SIEPU in Action
Imagine a SIEPU-equipped force scenario: fifth generation fixed-wing assets find, fix, and track enemy weapons systems while remaining outside the range of adversary anti-aircraft weapons systems.
At the same time, SIEPU-equipped AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys take up long-range firing points while remaining undetected, flying under enemy radar resolution cells. Fixed-wing aircraft target the enemy weapon systems and digitally pass the target locations to Venom and Viper helicopters poised to provide fires on unsuspecting enemy forces from an unanticipated vector.
Enabled by the SIEPU program’s upgraded electrical power generation, improved processing capabilities and enhanced weapons carriage, the Vipers and Venoms will be capable of engaging land-based enemy positions from extremely long distances with missiles that can track moving targets and simultaneously engage enemy unmanned aerial systems and other kinetic munitions that threaten U.S. forces with net-enabled air-to-air weapons.
This type of platform pairing will present a thorny problem for the enemy: they can “see” but cannot target fixed-wing aircraft while undetected H-1 aircraft at standoff range launch devastating effects.
H-1 Upgrades Will Maintain Overmatch
The H-1s were outfitted from inception with advanced sensors and weapons, and fully integrated cockpits, but they were not equipped with digital communications or network capabilities to fully realize their capabilities.
SIEPU is not the only upgrade program underway for the H-1. Other initiatives like Digital Interoperability and MAGTF Agile Network Gateway Link integration, combined with the employment of net-enabled precision munitions, will further allow the Marine Corps to fill mission and capability gaps.
These H-1 upgrades provide essential increases in survivability, lethality, and situational awareness. More importantly, they provide Combatant Commanders with an asymmetric advantage that our adversaries can neither duplicate nor counter.
An investment in the SIEPU program will send a clear message to our adversaries that America is serious about preserving our warfighting advantage and remains committed to deterring conflict in a complex global environment. And, if conflict comes, we will prevail.
LtCol Allen Grinalds, USMC (ret.) served as an AH-1 Cobra pilot with tours including MAWTS-1 in Yuma, AZ, H-1 Plans Officer at the Pentagon, commanding officer of HMLA-269 in New River, NC, and combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The views expressed in this piece are the sole opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Maritime Strategy or other institutions listed.
First published April 3, 2025 in The MOC, Center for Maritime Strategy
Featured image: U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venoms attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, fly in formation before embarking the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the Pacific Ocean April 1, 2024. Elements of the 15th MEU are currently embarked aboard the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group conducting routine operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Amelia Kang)
This article is republished with the author’s permission.
Earlier, we published a piece highlighting the ahead with the H-1 and its contribution to the evolving kill web capabilities of the USMC as they evolve their concepts of operations within the joint force.