By Robbin Laird

During my November 2023 visit to MAWTS-1, I had a chance to talk with Major Kyle “Elton” McHugh, tactical air department head at MAWTS-1. McHugh was originally a Harrier pilot who transitioned to the F-35B and served for three years with the first forward deployed F-35B squadron, VMFA-121.

The F-35 is a key part of answering the question of the how the USMC integrates with the joint force and supports the maritime fight. The Marine Corps F-35Bs in Japan provide fifth-generation aircraft to the Marine Corps and Joint Force in the first island chain, operating off a variety of basing options, and work closely with the USAF, USN, and allied Pacific Air Forces.

The aircraft shares common sensors, decision making systems, weapons and so on with a common U.S and allied combat fleet. In discussing the way ahead for USMC integration with the joint force, both the F-35 and the Osprey are often overlooked as key stakeholders in both current capabilities and the future force.

I asked him about his time in Japan and his perspective on working with the Japanese. He commented: “I think our enemies fear our excellence and that is a key part of deterrence. Working with the Japanese as they stood up their own F-35s, we shared a common mission and a common passion to defend our nations and our way of life. Our adversaries cannot ignore that commitment and the quality we bring to the fight.”

Throughout our discussion, Major McHugh emphasized how the Marines have worked with the joint and coalition force on integratability of the F-35, enabling a more lethal and capable F-35 enterprise. He noted that “there has been a concerted effort by MAWTS-1 to work with the Navy and Air Force weapon schools on F-35 integration. All the weapon school instructors meet in person twice a year. The goal is to standardize and shape a tri-service TTP manual, including Australian and British partners as well.”

We also discussed the coming of the Reaper and he emphasized how its inclusion is helping to learn about and shape operations in the challenging maritime environment. He noted that many of the students who come to WTI do not have deep knowledge of the maritime environment and Reaper data is helping in that learning process.

He noted the last Harrier class came to this year’s WTI and the Hornets are soon to follow. The all F-35 Marine Corps TACAIR element will be a key part of the joint and allied integration efforts as evidenced by the work on a common training manual by the weapon school instructors.

Major McHugh concluded: “At MAWTS-1 we are focused on tactical excellence. That level of competence is critical to deterrence. The events we do at MAWTS-1, both live and simulated, are executed with distributed joint partners, empowering mission commanders to compete against the evolving threat.”

Featured Photo: U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Kyle McHugh, a pilot assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, currently attached to Marine Medium Tilt-Rotor Squadron 265 Reinforced, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), departs the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), in the East China Sea, June 24, 2021. The F-35B is launched in support of the 31st MEU’s unit level training to maintain proficiency in air-to-surface attacks, tactical intercepts, and other critical skills. The 31st MEU is operating aboard ships of the America Amphibious Ready Group in the 7th fleet area of operation to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. John Tetrault.

The following story published on 1 April 2014 highlights the coalition aspect of McHugh’s career but as a Harrier pilot.

U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier pilots with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), conducted a bilateral aviation exercise with French air force fighter pilots in Djibouti, Africa, March 26 to April 2, 2014.

The weeklong exercise was intended to maintain proficiency and learn new tactics while building lasting relationships between allied nations.

“This has been a great experience for us,” said U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Kyle McHugh, VMM-263 (Rein.) Harrier pilot and native of Aberdeen, Md.

The MEU’s pilots flew air-to-air missions, dogfighting French Mirage 2000 pilots; as close air support, striking and bombing ground targets; combat search and rescue; tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel; and strike coordination/armed reconnaissance.

“Within the large air war, we flew those different roles and got to be a piece of the puzzle and see how the whole picture worked in actual execution,” explained McHugh, who also serves as the squadron’s assistant logistics officer. “It’s the most challenging environment we’ve had a chance to train in.”

The MEU’s pilots flew approximately 35 sorties and accumulated approximately 40 flight hours, flying missions with and against the Mirage pilots. The Mirage pilots were assigned to local French air force Fighter Squadron 03/011 Corsica, as well as visiting French air force Fighter Squadron 02/005 Ile de France.

“The missions we do here are very complex with very little time to prepare and coordinate,” said French air force Capt. Joan Dussourd, Fighter Squadron 02/005 Mirage 2000 fighter pilot. “It forces us to be very efficient.”

Each mission included several aircraft with different tasks, such as Harriers flying close air support while Mirages provide fighter support and dogfight against role player enemy Mirages. Throughout the week, there were as many as 12 aircraft participating at any given moment.

“They’re very tactically proficient in air-to-air and we consider ourselves to be very tactically proficient in an air-to-surface environment,” noted McHugh. “The ability to learn from one another in a combined forces environment, we’d be very lucky to ever have this experience again.”

In the end, the exercise helped both forces learn the other’s mindset, said Dussourd.

“I think when you fly the same missions with someone, you learn about them,” added Dussourd. “We’ve gotten to know the Marines and learned their mindset, which is very flexible. Ours is also, so we work well together.”

The squadrons and individual pilots established good working relationships throughout the exercise and built a strong foundation for other U.S. military squadrons to train or work with the French squadrons in the future.

“I’ve already seen how well trained and skilled they are in air-to-surface missions, but I was not in the air when they fought air-to-air, so I’m very interested to see how they did,” said Dussourd, who had never flown with Harriers before this exercise. “It’s important that we have chances like this in the future, to mix our knowledge. We appreciate the way the Harrier pilots work: very professional and skilled.”

The 22nd MEU is deployed with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

By Robbin Laird

During my visit to MAWTS-1 in 2018, the shift from operating in the land wars to dealing with challenges which could be posed by peer competitors was clearly underway. At the center of the shift was clear recognition of the need to deal with the ongoing challenge of operating in contested electro-magnetic environments.

In my meetings with PACFLEET this past April, a key aspect of the challenge facing the force is clearly spectrum warfare or signature management and deception. My takeaway from discussions at PACFLEET was very clear. Success for distributed maritime operations requires not only assured command and control but the tissue of ISR systems enabling distributed fleet operations and adding the key element of deception through various counter-ISR systems as well. In effect, fleet distribution built on a kill web effects infrastructure is being combined with what me be called a wake-a-mole operational capability. You can’t target me, if you can’t find me.

As one key Navy leader put it to me: “Counter-ISR is the number one priority for me, to deny the adversary with to high confidence in his targeting capabilities. I need to deceive them and to make a needle look like a needle in a haystack of needles. It is important to have the capability to look like a black hole in the middle of nothing.”

MAWTS-1 with its work on FARPs, force distribution, new ways to do C2 such as from systems operating out of the back of Ospreys, signature management and deception is clearly working along the same lines as PACFLEET.

I had a chance to discuss this approach with Major John Edwards, the Spectrum Warfare Department Head, when visiting MAWTS-1 in November 2023. Edwards highlighted their work in preparing the force for the spectrum management challenges they experience and will experience within a contested electronic warfare environment. Their focus is upon ramping up the “red” threat against blue to prepare the force for the experience they have when operating in a contested environment.

They focus on showing the operational elements of the force the kind of spectrum signature they are creating when they operate to better understand the nature of spectrum warfare and how that affects their lethality and survivability in operations. And by knowing that one can create ways to think about signature deception as well as pointed out by PACFLEET.

Edwards background is from operating in the last remaining specialized USMC airborne electronic warfare platform, the Prowler. The focus now is upon having the entire operational force “electronic warfare” ready, which requires consideration as well for bringing the kind of threats which red forces can be brought by an adversary to contested operations. This is always going to be a work in progress as both blue and red work the dynamically changing electronic magnetic spectrum embodied in the operating forces.

We discussed an issue as well which I have observed in both allied and U.S militaries, namely the paring down of specialized aircraft to perform the EW mission and the question of whether or not there is enough capability remaining for the specialized domain which EW or tron warfare really constitutes.

Major Edwards thought this was a valid concern and observed that the Navy currently through its Growlers provides a joint capability. He noted the USAF has officers involved with Growlers and Growlers come to MAWTS-1 as well to work with the range of capabilities which the USMC deploys. But he felt that there needs to be a joint force commitment to expertise in this area beyond simply relying on the Growler community.

Part of the problem is simply the need to have a robust capability in this area which can inform the force with regard to training standards necessary for effective operations. If it was felt correctly that spectrum management is now a thread running through offensive and defensive operations, where will the expertise be to inform the operational and training requirements?

Featured Image: U.S. Marine Corps aircraft assigned to Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One takeoff from a landing zone during a Spectrum Warfare Department (SWD) training event near Yuma, Arizona, Aug. 23, 2023. SWD Marines conducted a training to intercept, identify, and locate or localize sources of intentional and unintentional radiated electromagnetic energy for the purpose of immediate threat recognition, targeting, planning and conduct of future operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ruben Padilla)

By Robbin Laird

During my visit to MAWTS-1 during the first week of November 2023, I had a chance to talk with Colonel Eric Purcell, the CO of MAWTS-1 about the coming of the CH-53K to the USMC. This is the third new air system I have seen come to the USMC since I have been coming to Yuma, but because it doesn’t look as different as the other two did from their legacy ancestors, it is often not fully realized how important it will be for the USMC and the joint force.

Purcell is the first CH-53 pilot to be the CO of MAWTS-1 which is propitious as the CH-53K has been part of this year’s WTIs at MAWTS-1. He has more than 3000 hours on the CH-53E and 130 hours on the CH-53D. He has had two deployments to Afghanistan and two to Iraq, and additional visits to both countries as well.

He noted that he wished they had not called it the CH-53 for the CH-53K is so different from the legacy aircraft. It is designed to fit into the deck space of an CH-53E and to have a reduced footprint for its maintenance as well.

But the big difference is associated with the broader changes across the Marine Corps. When I was last at MAWTS-1 in 2020, they were starting to work on how to enhance the deployability and mobility of the Marine Corps and to do so in formations smaller than the traditional MAGTF. During this visit, my discussions with the department heads underscored how much work they have done in terms of doing expeditionary basing, innovations in Forward Refueling and Re-Arming points and ways to reduce the signature of the deployed force.

The CH-53K, in Col Purcell’s view, contributed to that in a significant way. He focused on the ability of the King Stallion with its triple hooks to carry significant loads to operating locations without having to land and be on the ground for the time necessary to unload from the interior of the aircraft. He pointed out that the aircraft could carry significant fuel loads – 54,000 pounds of fuel — to locations the F-35B might operate from and could do so with external lift rather than having to land.

Both the Osprey and the heavy lift helo could carry fuel inside and work as fuel providers to aircraft at a FARP. But being on the ground for significant time to do this exposed the aircraft to much greater risk than coming in and dropping off fuel from their external three hook system.

He pointed out that the legacy aircraft two hook system could lead on occasion to “uncommanded” load releases whereby the system on the aircraft would not be able to judge correctly whether loads on the hooks were compromising the safety of the aircraft. Systems on the aircraft prioritized aircraft safety over carrying loads and might jettison a load.

The CH-53K’s systems can correctly determine whether the load being carried by the aircraft affect the center of gravity of the aircraft, which is central to its security, and can make more accurate decisions with regard to the safety of the aircraft.

He noted that the load carrying capacity of the aircraft meant that it could carry an Osprey which might be in a location where it could not get repairs needed to fly safely to a location where it could be repaired. Some of the weight, such as the seats, would have to be removed to do so, but it could be done.

Col Purcell underscored that in Afghanistan and Iraq many of the missions which the CH-53E did were medium lift. The CH-53K is optimized for heavy lift and both the Marine Corps and the joint force need to focus on its unique capabilities to support distributed logistics as no other rotorcraft can do in the force. It is optimized for heavy lift, and it is important to capitalize on its unique capabilities.

The CH-53K can be part of a logistic chain involving cargo aircraft like the C-17, the C-5 and the C-130, in that it can carry 463L pallets and work with fixed wing cargo aircraft to transfer their pallets to the Super Stallion and then deliver them in places only a rotorcraft can go.

The new motors on the King Stallion allow it to operate in conditions where one would not want to operate an aging CH-53E fleet. The power margins of the new aircraft are much greater than the legacy aircraft.

He concluded: “The force will see the impact of the revolutionary design of the CH-53K to carry heavy loads long range and to enhance significantly the logistical capability of the force and to move in and out of objective areas more rapidly than the legacy system.”

Featured Image: A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion helicopter, assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, executes an external lift of a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle during Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 1-24 at Auxiliary Airfield II, near Yuma, Arizona, Oct. 3, 2023. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Elizabeth Gallagher.