MOSCOW, May 31 — RIA Novosti, Zakhar Andreev. "Not elite anymore?" — the American command is increasingly asking this question, talking about the Marine Corps. The Pentagon is trying to reform this type of troops, but is facing fierce criticism from its own officers. About the reasons for discontent — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Independent robot
Recently, the Marines boasted of a new weapon — a long-range unmanned surface vessel (LRUSV).
Officially, the system is called "semi-autonomous". "It is likely that the vessel will be able to perform certain tasks independently, having received instructions from a person," The Drive publication suggests.
The drone is designed for long maneuvers in the open ocean. It is able to unite in a "swarm" with other drones. If necessary, it takes on board the crew.
It is intended "primarily for reconnaissance." It is armed with the Hero-120 missile system. In one installation — eight barrage ammunition with an X-shaped wing. The flight range is 60 kilometers.
American marine drone LRUSV
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Kealii De Los Santos
Such weapons help, among other things, to collect information. If the smart bomb performs the task without attacking the target, it can be repaired and reused.
Marines are the first to master the novelty — they want to make them "soldiers of the future." To do this, the Force Design 2030 concept was developed back in 2020.
"Give up to invest"
The author of the document is Commandant of the Marines David Berger. He did not propose the reform from a good life: there was no proper funding. Therefore, the officer proclaimed the "give up to invest" approach. That is, to reduce the number of corps and the range of weapons.
In addition, the current US National Security Strategy called China "the only competitor that has both the intention to change the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so."
Over the years of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marines, according to Berger, have become "another land army." And he decided to turn them into lighter and more maneuverable forces operating at sea. It implies a complete abandonment of tanks and a significant reduction in barrel artillery — by 67 percent.
It is still unknown how the personnel will be reduced. It is possible that more than 20 percent.
"We don't go further than the beach"
Veterans of the corps criticized it. And united in the Chowder II movement. "Chauderists" — that's what the officers called themselves, who argued after the Second World War with the administration of Harry Truman about what the Marine Corps should be.
Commandant Berger is accused of being fixated on the Chinese threat and on just one — the Western Pacific - theater of operations.
Many people also disapprove of the rejection of tanks. You can't do without heavy equipment in urban battles. And in the event of a conflict with China, this cannot be avoided — the coastal zones there are highly urbanized. "We don't go further than the beach" — our new motto?" Retired Major John Spencer says ironically.
Berger justifies himself: the army will promptly share the armor if necessary. But the Chauderists-2 doubt this — the Middle East conflicts have shown that interdepartmental coordination leaves much to be desired.
Supporters of the reform stand their ground: the modernized Abrams are too heavy for the shore—ship system — special platforms that are assigned an important role in the updated troops. And it's not easy to maintain tanks.
In addition, a large and heavy vehicle dramatically reduces the mobility of combat units. And the Marines, according to Berger's plan, should be able to "win the battle, not the war." Take the first blow before the army approaches. Tanks are not needed for this.
"Like in Ukraine"
Note that Force Design 2030 is a flexible concept. Without changing the essence, the authors regularly update the details. The last time was in the spring of 2022.
Following the results of the first months of the conflict in Ukraine, Western analysts considered that small mobile and well-coordinated groups are effective against large Russian formations.
"Imagine a corps that is able to repeat the same thing, only on an order of magnitude larger," writes former US Deputy Secretary of Defense and former Marine Robert Work.
This added "points" to Berger. And he transformed three regiments of Marines based in the western Pacific into so-called reserve forces. It is they who will be the first to repel a possible Chinese strike. It is assumed that the fighting will not be on the mainland.
"Reserve forces could turn a chain of islands into a noose around the neck of the Chinese military," Wark believes.
"It is impossible to gather large forces"
Years of wargaming and analysis of real conflicts have shown that potential adversaries — Russia and China — have created so-called access prevention networks. Guided ammunition of short, medium and long range reduces the probability of a miss to almost zero. This means that it is unrealistic to assemble large amphibious forces in the area of operation of such weapons, Berger notes.
Therefore, he suggested concentrating not the "mass", but the fire effect. Dispersed units are capable of this — due to well-established coordination and high-precision weapons.
Therefore, the commandant decided to cut the personnel. The functions that the company has been performing up to now are now taken over by the department — 13-15 people. With its own means of reconnaissance, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting, as well as strike systems.
Such groups will be dispersed over huge distances, but "at key points".
The rapid movements of such detachments make strikes against them "uneconomical". Having completed the task, they will evade the battle with superior forces or move to a safe shelter.
Instead of tanks — rubber boats
If the artillery in the corps is reduced, then guided missiles and drones, on the contrary, will be added. And the effectiveness of the fire impact will increase. Mainly due to drones and barrage ammunition, such as the Hero-120. The portable version of the installation will receive not only marine drones, but also mobile units of marines.
This is enough to defeat ground vehicles and small vessels. You can also disable large ships if you hit radars, communication antennas and other key systems.
For the same purpose, the corps is going to use small teams on rubber motor boats armed with Javelins.
All this fits into a broader concept — Mission command, "task management". Its peculiarity: the lower ranks are trusted to make decisions. Only general instructions are sent down from above. The advantage of this approach is speed.
Judging by the semi-autonomous LRUSV drones and other similar systems, at the next stage, it is possible that not only the lower ranks, but also robots will be allowed to make decisions.