U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 24.3, shoot an M240B medium machine gun from the back of an MV-22B Osprey during a tail gunnery exercise over Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia, July 11, 2024. Marines conducted the tail gunnery exercise in…
By Robbin Laird FLRAA is coming at the dawn of the age of autonomous systems. It is being crafted as a manned program to operate in the con-ops of formations that will operate in the world of combined arms operations of manned systems working with autonomous ones. The Army approach…
By Robbin Laird The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) or the Army’s new tiltrotor aircraft is being designed to operate in a new world of combat, namely one in which autonomous systems will become significant players. I would argue indeed that when introducing new manned systems now and in the…
U.S. Marines with the maritime raid force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct special patrol insertion and extraction rigging during a helicopter rope suspension techniques sustainment exercise on Kin Blue Training Area, Okinawa, Japan, July 11, 2024. The exercise sustained the MRF’s HRST proficiency in insert and extract capabilities for the…
By Robbin Laird I have returned from Australia and the latest Sir Richard Willians seminar. In that seminar, we dealt with the challenge of how to enhance the ready force while investing in the future force. The modernization of the ADF is a case study in the clash between force…
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Charles Tuan, an AH-1Z attack helicopter pilot with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Rein.), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, explains the purpose of firing an AGM-179 joint air-to-ground munition (JAGM) and the use of a forward arming and refueling point (FARP), during an expeditionary (EXPO) strike training…
By Robbin Laird The Marines assisted in relief efforts in the Philippines after a Typhoon hit that country. And as has been done in the past, the dynamic duo of the KC-130J and the Osprey provided the means to do so. As Capt Mark McDonough noted in a 14 October…
Pacific Marines work alongside members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stage and transport relief supplies in the Northern Philippines, Oct. 6 to 8, 2024. The U.S. Department of Defense is supporting the Republic of the Philippines at the request of the Government of the Philippines during foreign…
