Image source: topwar.ru
About 10,000 US Marines and navy personnel are participating in the exercises under a scenario that is based on the Force Design 2030 concept and a joint maritime strategy to prepare forces for possible wars, including in the vast Indo-Pacific region. In the concept, one of the key links are "Islands". In the American scenario, this link represents a remote coastal environment, which, according to the military, will become the next major battlefield in the future — if "potential threats from China, Russia or North Korea become real."
Major General Ben Watson, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said during a speech to the media on Monday.
The units participating in the SK22-23 ("Steel Knight") exercise include the 1st Marine Regiment, the 1st Marine Logistics Group and the 3rd Air Wing of the USMC.
The crews of four San Diego-based ships are involved — Harpers Ferry, along with the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7), the amphibious assault ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) and the coastal warship USS Jackson (LCS-6). Also at sea are the unmanned surface ship Sea Hunter and other vessels supporting operations and live firing at Naval training grounds and on the island of San Clemente.
For the exercises, the division moved most of its forces along with the 1st Marine Regiment over a distance of more than 450 km to Fort Hunter-Liggett, using a training point on the central coast of California as the main operational base.
The exercises, according to Major General Ben Watson, provide the Marines with another platform for training with NMESIS (NIMESIS), a system for countering Navy and Marine expeditionary ships. We are also talking about an anti-ship missile, which the Marines can use to hit targets from the coastal territory.
The landing of marines on remote islands is also being worked out, which again actualizes the topic of a possible war for the island of Taiwan with China, as well as for other islands, including in the South China Sea. During the exercises, an augmented reality system is used, which allows simulating the actions of a conditional enemy during such exercises.
