Next, it would use anti-ship missiles and air-defense missiles to fortify its position, creating a keep-out zone for the enemy. In practice, it would work like this: in the event of conflict, an MLR would use its infantry battalion to carve out an advance base on an enemy-held island. Guam Is Becoming America’s 21st-Century Fortress.Fighting in the Littorals and Tiny Island Hopping Other equipment will include land, air, and sea drones that are lighter and can locate and destroy enemy positions faster than a 70-ton tank. It’s also purchasing NMESIS robotic vehicles armed with the new Naval Strike Missile. The service will expand its inventory of HIMARS rocket trucks and precision-guided rockets that have proven invaluable in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Marines will boost other categories of equipment and buy new kit. Manpower cuts to fund new equipment purchases would result in the need for fewer helicopters and tiltrotors like the UH-1Y Venom and MV-22B Osprey. The M777 howitzer has a minimum range of 1.6 miles, leaving them unable to provide fire support on small islands. M1A1 Abrams tanks are highly capable, but less useful fighting on the small artificial islands China has built in the South China Sea, and the Marines believe sea and air-based drones can provide the same firepower. The eliminations and reductions are designed to make the service lighter and more easily deployable. The Marines will maintain their target of 420 F-35Bs and F-35Cs, while reducing the number of aircraft per squadron from 16 to 10.

The Corps is also reducing the number of infantry battalions from 24 to 21, and cutting each battalion’s manpower by 10 percent. The Marines are sharply reducing the number of M777 155-millimeter howitzers, and instituting modest cuts to tiltrotor and helicopter squadrons. Army, plus the heavy bridging equipment that would allow tanks to cross rivers, ditches, and other obstacles. The Marine Corps eliminated tanks from its global inventory, transferring more than 450 to the U.S. Getty Imagesįorce Design 2030 instituted a number of hard changes. The Marines will substitute most of their howitzers for the M142 HIMARS rocket launcher, shown here.

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