​Top 10 Mission Examples Build Platform Enabled from End to End Equipment Required to be Digitally Capable
 
Marine Corps executes mission Digital threads primarily as an integrated MAGTF, organized to support the Marine rifleman. The integration of the MAGTF and the successful execution of mission threads rely on the effective exchange of critical information; communication, whether in the form of electronic data or voice, is critical to the exchange of mission-essential information. An effective network infrastructure is required in order to achieve effective end-to-end communication.

The goal of MAGTF digital interoperability is to provide the required information to the right participants at the right time in order to ensure mission success, i.e., defeating the threat, while improving efficiency and effectiveness. This approach provides the additional advantage of responsible spectrum use, which becomes increasingly important as spectrum demands increase, as technology advances, and as our MAGTFs continually operate in more distributed and disaggregated operations. 

We continue to pursue integration and data exchange throughout various arenas: situational awareness; aircraft survivability; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ISR; fire support; and logistics by conducting continuous and iterative analysis of ever-evolving information exchange requirements IERs and the technological tools needed to satisfy those requirements. Network design must be based on IERs so that the right information gets to the right Marine at the right time.

In order to be digitally interoperable, a platform must possess and integrate the following four things to be digitally interoperable:

Sensors take information from the environment and turns it into digital data; examples include ASE aircraft survivability equipment, targeting pods, and a Marine’s situational awareness.

Computer processors take the digital data from the sensors and translate and format it for display or transport; examples include overhead in existing platform mission computers, additional processor cards in both related or unrelated systems, and standalone processors.

An interface that allows the system user to interact with the translated and formatted data from the processor; examples include integrated Multi-Function Display, a handheld electronic tablet, and a laptop computer.

Radios and associated antennas transmit and receive the translated and formatted data. Each of these components is required to fulfill the information exchange requirements in a constant integrated loop. The absence of a single aforementioned component breaks the loop.

Current enhancement and future procurement is the result of continuous end-to-end live and virtual analysis, through multiple efforts, of both USMC mission thread IERs and USMC platform capability over a period of years that has identified capabilities and capability gaps combined with an extensive analysis of alternatives.
The MAGTF as a whole employs four tactical data links that are fielded widely enough across the MAGTF that minor enhancements to platforms can greatly improve capability.


1. Next-generation Command and control C2 architectures employ agile voice/digital communications pathways to provide resiliency, increase the speed and volume of data flow, and accelerate decision making.

2. Intelligence. In a future operating environment, a next-generation intelligence architecture is able to sense and make sense of the entire operational environment. 

3. Human decision-making will be supported by “big data” management and advanced analytics.

4. Fires. Capitalizing on a range of new weapons and sensors, next-generation fires are networked to leverage the benefits, while mitigating the limitations, of individual systems.

5. Manoeuvre. A next generation MAGTF expertly leverages maneuver across the five domains air, land, maritime, space, information/cyber/EMS electromagnetic spectrumof the future operating environment.

6. Force protection. In the next-generation MAGTF, all elements are aware of their multi-spectral signatures and actively conduct signature management. 

7. Integrated and layered approach, employing various active and passive, force protective measures/methods.

8. Logistics/sustainment. A next-generation MAGTF is capable of providing distributed forces logistics and sustainment support across a dynamic and fully contested battlespace through responsive, agile, and multimodal methods/approaches.

9. C2 systems are a key element in leveraging and integrating current investments and systems both fourth and next generation to connect the network seamlessly between air and ground 
 
10. Realising the potential of the MAGTF tactical grid, ultimately achieving sensor fusion across the MAGTF, similar to the individual aircrew experience in the F-35. 

​“CMV-22B Osprey Long-Range Tiltrotor Aircraft to Sustainably Outfit all the Big Deck Amphibious Ships”

Landing Helicopter Assault and Landing Helicopter Dock Platforms Need Greater Logistics Search and Rescue L-SAR Capability for Strike and Counter-Air Missions.

The current Navy L-SAR detachment aboard the LHD/LHA is only capable of relatively short-range recovery in secure areas, generally overwater “planeguard” duty. But soon the Navy will be fielding its own enhanced variant of the MV-22, the CMV-22.

A CMV-22 detachment will enhance the capability of both the Navy and the Marine Corps team. With CMV-22s aboard, the Navy could reclaim the long-range SAR mission. This is key if amphibs are going to routinely serve as strike platforms and perform a greater role in sea control. With the right equipment and personnel, this could provide a capability well up the SAR decision matrix, making  detachment valuable as a joint theater personnel recovery asset.

Using more F-35Bs means using more engines, including those the CMV-22 is uniquely suited to carry, not to mention the additional bombs and missiles a “lighting carrier” would need. This is in addition to the benefits of being able to conduct longer-range resupply in general, especially at the distances involved in the Indo-Pacific. The CMV has an 1150nm range, roughly 300nm greater than an MV.

That is not a small investment on the part of the Navy. Replacing the expeditionary MH-60S with CMV-22s would require 22 aircraft, assuming that the squadron and the ship keep similar deploy-to-dwell ratios. 

With additional Fleet Replacement Squadron, pipeline, and attrition aircraft, the ultimate requirement would be 25 to 30 CMV-22s to sustainably outfit all the big-deck amphibs. That said, the MH-60S is starting to come up on the point when recapitalization is necessary. With the CMV-22 already being purchased for Carrier Onboard Delivery, expanding that community to include the Gator Navy offers a huge increase in capability.

The Marine Corps is considering a new plan to arm the MV-22 Osprey fleet and is considering putting rockets, missiles or other forward-firing weapons on the tilt-rotor aircraft.

A more capable and heavily armed Osprey will be able to provide its own escort protection, a development the Corps has been pursuing for several years now from lessons learned in the field.

The Corps’ latest plans to put forward-firing weapons on the Osprey comes at a time when the Marines are rethinking their long-standing hopes for a reliable all-quadrant weapon system that can shoot in many directions.

Efforts to build and deploy an all-quadrant weapon have had some trouble in recent years.

In the long run, the additional guns on the Osprey would be a somewhat temporary stopgap measure while the Corps continues to develop a massive futuristic sea drone. The future expeditionary sea drone program is known as the MUX.

Over the next decade, the Corps wants to develop a serious-heatpacking expeditionary armed sea drone that can complement the long-range capabilities of newer aircraft like the F-35B/C, CH-53K and MV-22.

But it’s going to be years before the Corps can field that, so new modifications for the MV-22 could fill the void in the meantime.

We may find that initially, forward-firing weapons could bridge the escort gap until we get a new rotary wing or tilt-rotor attack platform, with comparable range and speed to the Osprey.

For now, the official Marine Corps requirement remains an all-quadrant weapons system, but Marine Corps officials are rethinking that.

Several years ago, the Ospreys were armed with the Defense Weapon System ― in essence an underbelly-mounted 7.62mm chain gun.

Officials at Naval Air Systems Command claim the chain gun does “not provide adequate all-quadrant capability due to restricted zones of fire to protect the aircraft.

The Defense Weapon System has gone through a slew of testing and has been operational with the Osprey. But past reports have been critical of the system’s overall quality and capability. After testing of the Defense Weapon System in 2015, the Corps found damage to the fuselage on several test aircraft.

The MV-22 is also armed with the GAU-21 .50-caliber machine gun or an on ramp GAU-18 7.62mm machine gun.

The Corps has looked at several options for forward-firing rockets and missiles to bridge the escort gap, including the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS, which turns 2.75-inch rockets into precision-guided munitions, and Hellfires.

But the Navy and Marine Corps have slowly been trying to phase out its Hellfires with the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile.

The fiscal year 2019 budget does invest heavily into the APKWS system, with a request of nearly $153 million for all types of rockets and $91 million of that slated for the APKWS guidance kits.

But the Corps is also looking at other forward-firing weapons beyond rockets and missiles.

Marine Corps fleet of MV-22 Osprey is being reduced from more than 70 distinct variants to about five so the service will increase commonality throughout the Osprey fleet. These efforts will boost readiness through simplifying the maintenance efforts on the planes, while also generating savings in dealing with parts suppliers and making operations easier on pilots and maintainers.

Since Osprey production began in 2004, the Marines have continued to insert reliability and capability improvements into the production line – which not only incurs a cost on the acquisition side, but has made maintenance, operations and logistics a headache. Even within squadrons, pilots and maintainers have had to work with different configurations that have wires and switches in different places, have different mission capabilities, and require different spare parts.

“The CMV-22 Osprey brings expanded capabilities not only to the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission but to the high-end fight. We are anxious to get it to the fleet and show off its immense capabilities and agile flexibility.” 

The CMV-22B is unique in the Osprey family with the ability to carry up to 6,000 pounds and cover more than 1,150 nautical miles. It is the only aircraft that can land on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier with the F-35C engine power module safely secured inside its fuselage and provide roll-on/roll-off delivery. Expanded sponsons increase fuel capacity and enable the CMV-22B to provide enhanced logistical capability anywhere in the world.

“This CMV-22 first delivery marks a new milestone with our U.S. Navy customer providing unmatched versatility in an aviation platform,.

The CMV-22 completed several milestones leading to the first reveal ceremony. The CMV-22B accomplished its first flight, the first developmental test model arrived at Naval Air Station to continue developmental testing. Over the last several months, the Navy and Marine Corps team has been working and training together at MCAS Miramar in preparation for CMV-22 deliveries.

“Navy maintainers and aircrew have embedded in multiple squadrons within Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 16, with significant benefit to both Navy personnel and our squadrons. This integration has been so successful, and created such a tight-knit team, that we currently have members of the upcoming Navy squadron integrated into one of our forward-deployed units. “This clearly demonstrates the professionalism and dedication by all members of the “Blue and Green” team and bodes well for further integration of Navy and Fleet Marine Forces as we prepare to employ the CMV-22’s vast capabilities at home and abroad.”

The U.S. Navy selected the g V-22 Osprey to replace the C-2A Greyhound fleet for its carrier onboard delivery mission of transporting personnel and high-priority cargo from shore bases to aircraft carriers at sea. 

“There is nothing more important than delivering capabilities to the Fleet with speed,. The program and industry team have leveraged non-traditional approaches such as using existing MV-22 testing data to shrink the time in the CMV-22 acquisition cycle.   The speed to get to this delivery milestone is a testament to the rigor and energy they put into the acquisition strategy and risk reduction initiatives during test and design.”

The CMV-22B is a variant of the MV-22B and is the replacement for the C-2A Greyhound for the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission. The aircraft will be used to transport personnel, mail, supplies and high-priority cargo from shore bases to aircraft carriers at sea.

To meet the operational needs of the Navy, the test program proactively sought risk reduction opportunities leveraging the MV-22B for shipboard and high gross weight testing. In addition, the integrated test team is focused on delta testing, differences between the MV-22B and CMV-22B, shortening the overall test program. Finally, the Navy stood up a Naval Aviation Training Support Group, enabling the CMV-22 to utilize the infrastructure at Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron (VMMT) 204. These, combined with other “speed to the fleet” initiatives, allow for initial deployment just 18 months from first flight.

“The CMV-22B will enable the Navy to supply the carrier strike groups with what they need to project sea power, anytime, anyplace,” said Kelly.

The CMV-22B will be capable of transporting up to 6,000 pounds of cargo and/or personnel over a 1,150 nautical mile range. This expanded range is due to the addition of two new 60 gallon tanks installed in the wing for an additional 120 gallons of fuel and the forward sponson tanks were redesigned for additional capacity.

The CMV-22B variant has a beyond line-of-sight high frequency radio, a public address system for passengers, and an improved lighting system for cargo loading. The aircraft will also be capable of internally transporting the F-35C Lightning II engine power module.

PMA-275 manages the cradle to grave procurement, development, support, fielding and disposal of the tiltrotor program systems for the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Forces and U.S. Navy. 

Navy V-22 program demonstrates 'speed to the fleet' with first delivery

“There is nothing more important than delivering capabilities to the Fleet with speed.  The program and industry team have leveraged non-traditional approaches such as using existing MV-22 testing data to shrink the time in the CMV-22 acquisition cycle.   The speed to get to this delivery milestone is a testament to the rigor and energy they put into the acquisition strategy and risk reduction initiatives during test and design.”

The CMV-22B is a variant of the MV-22B and is the replacement for the C-2A Greyhound for the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission. The aircraft will be used to transport personnel, mail, supplies and high-priority cargo from shore bases to aircraft carriers at sea.

To meet the operational needs of the Navy, the test program proactively sought risk reduction opportunities leveraging the MV-22B for shipboard and high gross weight testing. In addition, the integrated test team is focused on delta testing, differences between the MV-22B and CMV-22B, shortening the overall test program. Finally, the Navy stood up a Naval Aviation Training Support Group, , enabling the CMV-22 to utilize the infrastructure at Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron (VMMT) 204. These, combined with other “speed to the fleet” initiatives, allow for initial deployment just 18 months from first flight.

The aircraft is assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21, the squadron leading the developmental test efforts for the program. The first operational squadron, Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30, is scheduled to receive the aircraft this summer.

“The CMV-22B will enable the Navy to supply the carrier strike groups with what they need to project sea power, anytime, anyplace..

The CMV-22B will be capable of transporting up to 6,000 pounds of cargo and/or personnel over a 1,150 nautical mile range. This expanded range is due to the addition of two new 60 gallon tanks installed in the wing for an additional 120 gallons of fuel and the forward sponson tanks were redesigned for additional capacity.

The CMV-22B variant has a beyond line-of-sight high frequency radio, a public address system for passengers, and an improved lighting system for cargo loading. The aircraft will also be capable of internally transporting the F-35C Lightning II engine power module.

Technology and weapons upgrades to the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor will give Marines a better edge in the networked battlespace,.

“The Osprey’s mission revolves around one thing… the Marine on the ground. The purpose of the Osprey is to deliver troops, supplies and their equipment to an austere landing zone so they can conduct their mission,."

“The success of the Osprey relies on industry and the military working together to make this aircraft better and to make it an essential part” of the Marine air-ground task force.

The Marine Corps has fielded about 90 percent of its planned 360-aircraft buy, and the MV-22 program is slated to reach Full Operational Capability in 2020.

The Marine Corps’ Ospreys first saw combat in 2007 with VMM-263’s deployment to Iraq and since have continuously deployed. The aircraft continues to evolve, with ongoing updates and retrofits to replace obsolete tech, improve survivability and expand mission capabilities.

The MV-22 Osprey often operates in areas with austere landing zones, with low-visibility requiring crews to rely on instrumentation to land. Existing flight control software enables an automated approach to “put the aircraft in a hover at 30 feet.  But “the one drawback… is it is slower than a pilot. The system cannot fly the aircraft as fast as a trained pilot can.”

The Marine Corps continues to weigh its options for expanded defensive capabilities. The mini-gun “adds weight to the aircraft and reduces the number of troops’ seats,  and its unguided rounds are no match for the firepower from close-air support aircraft against enemy threats.

The MV-22’s ability to fly 900 miles with full, internal tanks – that’s three times the 200- to 300-mile range of helicopters – and its aerial refueling capability stretch the Osprey’s range and reach, “limited only by maintenance and crew day,. But long missions mean “longer amount of time that the grunts in the back sit back there, and they are devoid of information for what’s actually happening on the ground.”

“In some cases, the mission or the objective area or the whole point of them going there may have changed by the time we actually get to the objective area,. . Pilots often will update via radio or SATCOM, relaying information via the internal communications system to the platoon commander but not to each individual Marine in the back.

That might soon change. Some capabilities using high-power waveform enable a platoon “to move data from SATCOM into the back of the aircraft” using one of the Osprey’s two SATCOM antennas, Miersma said. With a standard military radio and SATCOM capability with the rear antenna, “we pull data down from a SATCOM network” using Adaptive Networking Wide-band Waveform (ANW2) and creating a small network that platoon Marines can use to distribute data using their MAGTABs, or Marine Air-Ground Tablets.

But slow data transfer rate and lower resolutions limit the information Marines can push or pull, he noted, and “as we are flying, somebody has to manually input that data into a system and transfer it, which would require heads-down time in the back of the aircraft to actually get that data uploaded and distributed.”

To help mission planning, the Marine Corps is equipping Ospreys with NOTM-Airborne Increment II, a “Networking on the Move” system that adds SATCOM antennas and a radome over the rear hatch. It’s essentially a secure version of in-flight Wi-Fi on commercial airlines. “We can launch the aircraft, with little to no information, proceed somewhere in general and then in flight conduct flight planning and figure out where we’re going to land,. “So that reduces the amount of time we are on the ground, having to gather the information in order to make the launch.”

Another promising digital interoperability technology is the MAGTF Agile Network Gateway Link (MANGL), which will link four main networks to transmit data from the aircraft’s sensors,. But “we don’t have a way to take information from one network and transfer it to a different type of network,.  A software reprogrammable payload would gather that data, translate it and push it over the networks for aircrew and Marines. Automated is the goal, “so instead of having people sucked into their apps and looking at their screens in the back of the aircraft, the goal is to have the sensors pull that information automatically and push it as required to the people that need it the most. “It would be automatically uploaded to tablets while they’re in flight.

“A Marine in the back could be staring at a MAGTAB looking at an objective area he is going to prior to him ever arriving,.  “It’s creating a situational awareness so when a Marine steps off the aircraft, he has an idea of where he’s going, and he knows immediately how to execute once the wheels hit the deck.”

But tech advancements run up against an old challenge: Weight. “As we develop these systems and we add them to the aircraft, like any other system on the plane, that takes up weight, and it takes away from the capability to carry other things, namely fuel or equipment and troops in the back.  “So a balance is really necessary, I think, when we are designing these systems and putting them on the aircraft to make sure they are giving us a benefit that outweighs that cost of weight.”

“ New Simulators Give Marine Aviators an Edge in Training for High-End Fight”
 
The future of Marine aviation is complex: aircraft are growing more technologically advanced, pilots face a proliferation of high-end and low-end threats, military budgets are squeezed and demand for Navy forces around the globe is growing.
 
So how will Marine aviation training keep up? In part, with fielding of tech advanced simulators.
 
Joint Terminal Attack Controllers using the simulator can coordinate with pilots in the air to identify and mark targets for air strikes from the ground
 
In a feat that combined live training and simulator training, we conducted a live, virtual and constructive demo. We took equipment that’s already on the aircraft that broadcasts the aircraft’s altitude, airspeed, position in real time, and we put a transmitter or receiver unit on the top of the building. We were able to tap into that feed, and what that did was it took that feed of an actual aircraft on the range, and we piped it into simulator, and it was accurately recreated in the virtual workspace.
 
The aircraft is actually flying on the range and is properly displayed in the simulator with very low to minimal latency in a real-time altitude, airspeed, and attitude. So what that provided for is a real-time control of that aircraft with the ability to see the aircraft as well as have the ability to achieve visual recognition.
 
Marines are able to look up and actually assess the attitude and profile of that aircraft and then provide the clearance to essentially employ munitions on the desired intended target.
 
Before we had the simulator, we were really slow in the first few days on the range because that’s the first time operators did it. But now getting some practice time in, you get better control and better performance on the range with the live assets, so it makes it more efficient. So the simulator is really useful, it’s invaluable as far as getting Marines ready to go.
 
 
 
It has been harder and harder to get fleet aircraft that can support training due to a high operational tempo and due to challenges in keeping the aircraft ready to fly. The more training Marines can get on the range, the better they are when they actually get to an actual aircraft.

“So they’re not stumbling on Day 1, they’re already semi-proficient or trying to get there, whereas in the past before they had this simulator you’re a mess your first several times, so it’s good training for you, but for the guys airborne, they’re holding for a half hour just to get a bomb off because the guy on the ground is learning what to do.
 
The simulator has created a dramatic improvement in the first pass drop and the communications on the radio and everything. Marines work everything out here, so by the time that they’re on the range it’s just the real-life stuff that hits you. … A lot more first-pass drops, which is the whole goal of close-air support.
 
Want Marines will eventually be able to do is put this into a guy in a aircraft simulator and they’ll be running this simulator, talking to the guys in this simulator, and doing all their controls to get their currency requirements to satisfy their training while taking their targeting cues from other Marines in their own simulator.
 
A next step towards achieving that vision of connecting multiple simulators spread across the battlespace is the integrated training facility to house, all under one roof, simulators for pretty much anything in the carrier strike group.
 
We’ll be able to integrate them all together. Eventually we will be able to pipe in feeds from live aircraft out on our range – that’s the live part, and then vice versa hopefully we can pipe what’s being seen in the simulators, or what’s being constructed in the simulators, out to the live aircraft as well.
 
What we want to be able to do in the future, and this facility is the first step, is machine-to-machine data gathering. And that will allow us to gather large amounts of data – so not just necessarily how they did on that event, in the actual actions they took on that event, but we can also gather historical data on the aircraft, its system, how well the systems have held up.
 
We can look at, automatically, machine-to-machine, look at the pilot to assess proficiency, and see how much flight time was received recently, helping us build that bigger picture so we can inform leadership with the best information we can give them.
 
Despite the focus on high-end warfare technologies, aviators could face, equally dangerous less expensive threats like shoulder-launched anti-air missiles so we invested in Surface-to-Air Missile simulators to help ensure that pilots cycling through training events are aware of the threats they face on the ground and are flying with tactics that would keep them safe.
 
Though the SAM simulators aren’t connected to the planes in the air – so the pilot didn’t know in real-time he had been “shot” at with the simulator – the simulator logs video of the encounter. That video is incorporated into the pilot’s debrief after a training event, with the instructors explaining to the pilot whether his flight profile would have kept him safe or put him at risk to ground threats.
 
This is how you prove to Marines, you’re reachable, you need to be careful and you need to know what you’re doing, get your tactics right. Everything that’s out there is beatable, you’ve just got to know what you’re doing, but you’ve got to get your tactics right.
 
Bringing Virtual Reality Simulation Vision Closer to Meeting Marine Corps Requirements to Fight any Battle on any Terrain
 
While live training will always remain the standard against which Marine unit readiness is measured, even live training has its limits. It costs a lot of money to ship Marines out to Twentynine Palms or other areas. It costs money to fire munitions. Some of those munitions can’t be fired in most areas.
 
The Marines want simulators in which commanders can lead virtual troops.
 
Some of the advanced weapons can’t be demonstrated where just anyone can see them in action, thus revealing our tech to adversaries.
 
And that is where simulations can help bridge the gap.
 
But first, there’s a list of things that must come to fruition.
 
Much of that is going to be applications and bandwidth, basically getting better versions of terrains and simulations that are more realistic and can accommodate as much as a division’s worth of players and an equally complex, simulated adversary.
 
But some items are smaller and more hands-on, like better virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.
 
Those headsets are key since the Marines want them to work not as they do now, with pounds of cabling in bulky indoor shooting simulators but light with long-lasting batteries that can be taken in the field and on deployment.
 
Goggles that is about twice the weight of existing eye protection, perhaps with its power source somewhere on the body, is likely five to 10 years away based on his survey of the field.
 
There’s another an ongoing need: better drones.
 
But instead of longer flying, large-scale drones that can coordinate complex fires and sensors for the operational environment, simulations needs are smaller drones that can fly lower, giving Marines a street-level, detailed view of the battlespace.
 
Marines can create their own terrain maps and fight the simulated fight in the areas they’ll really be operating in.
 
And those video feeds that are now on every ISR platform in the real world? Simulations need them too, to be realistic. That means game designers have to have human-like activity going on in areas instead of some digital “blob” representing enemies.
 
That way, when a commander wants to zoom in on a tactical frame in the game, they’ll be able to do it just like in theater.
 
Which brings it to one of the more ambitious items beyond terrain and hardware: getting simulations to act more like humans.
 
As it works now, unit commanders set up their forces, work their mission sets and then the virtual “forces” collide and often a scripted scenario plays out.
 
Not too realistic.
 
What’s needed is simulations to act like populations might act in the real world and the same for the enemy, taking advantages, fighting and withdrawing.
 
But one step further is key: The enemy has to talk back.
 
When a commander finishes the fight, they should be able to query the virtual enemy and figure out why it did what it did, how it gained a certain advantage.
 
And it shouldn’t take a programmer to “talk” with the simulation. Units communicate via voice and chat. That’s how simulations users must be able to talk with their simulated civilians, allies and enemies, in plain language.
 
These pursuits are not happening in a vacuum. They were done at a battalion level with a short prep time, far different than the large-scale Marine Expeditionary Unit or Marine Expeditionary Brigade-sized training that is typical.
 
That is part of a larger effort to create a “plug-and-play” type of training module that any battalion, and later smaller units, can use at home station or on deployment to conduct complex, coordinated training.
 
What made that work new was pairing legacy systems with a variety of operating systems between them.
 
That’s another example of what needs to be fixed.
 
Marines and other services are, in many cases, using systems that were designed decades apart and creating a patchwork methods to get the hardware to work together when it wasn’t built for that type of operation.
 
The new systems must be open architecture so that new tech, new weapons and new terrain can be added on the fly. But also secure enough to operate across networks and not be spied upon by those who would want a peek at our tactics.
 
Across the infantry battalions Marines received new gear last year called Tactical Decision Kits. These allow for squad to company-sized elements to do video game-play for their unit exercises, complete with NFL-style replay of engagements and decisions.
 
That’s a low-level example of one thing that’s lacking in current training. Right now the main piece of tech for a Marine commander conducting an after action review is a pen and paper pad.
 
But with ISR drones, body cams and sensors, Marines in the near-term future should be able to monitor individual Marine’s energy and hydration levels, where they pointed their weapon, when they fired, how many rounds, if they hit their target, even where their eyes were looking while on patrol.
 
And, if on deployment, Marines can’t rely on a cadre of contractors back home to run their hardware. To that end, the Corps began two courses last year, the Simulation Professional Course and the Simulations Specialist Course.
 
Both give Marines in infantry units experience setting up simulations and running the games for their units. They input training objectives and can understand and put together training for the unit staff or just for their fire team back in the barracks.
 
 
The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab just finished a rapid capability assessment of a pair of goggles equipped with augmented reality that allow artillery maintainers to work on three-dimensional digital models of M777 155mm howitzers.
 
"I like it ... you can tell what's missing, what's broken, what's cracked. "It can't do much for me right now, but when I was back at the schoolhouse, this would have helped out a lot to actually see parts in the howitzer. I am a very visual person; looking at a schematic doesn't help me much."
 
"Within training, it runs the spectrum. It can be maintainer training, it can be infantry training, it can be gun-drill training. I was talking to some snipers earlier. This could be used on a sniper training range, where you have the snipers crawling through the grass trying to get within shot range and not be observed while they are doing so.
 
"Currently, how are they being observed -- through a telescope. You can augment that telescope, which uses the human eyeball, with the laser range finding that the goggles are capable of, to pick up variances in the terrain in order to better detect those snipers, which will make them better snipers because now they've got to beat technology.
 
Marine Corps and other services are focused on finding ways to use augmented reality in training.
 
"It seems unlikely that it's going to go away. We have Marine Corps Systems Command, interested in augmented reality ... and we have all been talking about these systems and what they are capable of."
 
 

 
“Marines Vision for Next-generation MAGTF Much Larger than Single Platform”
 
Mairnes need to do more than just leverage new technology and procure advanced systems. To evolve the MAGTF, Marine aviation envisions using new and current systems in innovative ways; advancing the idea that every platform is a sensor, shooter, and sharer; and creating a MAGTF that is effective and resilient.
 
What does all of this mean to the Marine on the ground? Our tactical skills to find, fix, target, track, engage, and assess against any potential adversary is exponentially improved over our current ability.
 
Manned-unmanned teaming means we can provide 24-hour coverage anywhere in the world and preserve assets. New systems facilitate the Marine Corps’ tactical entry into a contested environment and allow for us to better support the MAGTF and Marines on the ground once we have established air superiority—or, more likely, air supremacy—in a given theater of operations.
 
We will be able to shoot missiles and drop bombs from farther away, but more importantly, we will be able to provide increased situational awareness to aviation and ground commanders on a chaotic battlefield in order to help lessen the effects of the fog of war and ultimately provide a common operating picture across the force.
 
As we look ahead, the Marine Corps imagines what the future battlespace will look like—and we design and build weapons systems that will enable Marines to be prepared for the continuum of conflict. The lines between low-intensity engagements requiring realtime precision strike capabilities and complex engagements requiring counters to high-threat, strategic, near-peer adversary systems can blur quickly.
 
The next-generation MAGTF will be ready.
 
All of this—new aircraft, better supply management, far better communications and linkages with the ground force, and, most of all, better-trained people—comes together in war.
 
In aviation terms, fighter aircraft are grouped into generations, defined by their performance characteristics, aircraft systems, and capabilities.
 
The term next generation began as an HQMC Aviation term of art and expanded to other Marine aviation circles as the Marine Corps began the development and procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
 
With its stealth technology, fusion engine, targeting systems, and expanded weapons capabilities, the F-35 strike fighter squarely fits the definition of a next-generation strike fighter.
 
However, with all the advertisement and excitement about this new capability, some came to believe that the next-generation ACE and the F-35 were synonymous and that the F-35 was the sole initiative in the Marine aviation portfolio, modernizing to keep pace with the challenges of the future operating environment.
 
A combined arms element such as today’s MEU afloat is completely revolutionized by F-35B aircraft aboard. The F-35B can fill the basic role of providing fixed-wing strike and ISR support to the MAGTF commander and, in the moment, turn and penetrate a high-threat integrated air defense system—a concept completely impossible prior to the advent of the F-35B aboard a MEU.
 
The F-35s deployed aboard a MEU can perform all of our current missions to support the Battalion Landing Team, while simultaneously providing a high-end deterrent to any potential near-peer threat that may emerge.
 
Marines will be partnered with the Navy aboard the CVN with a squadron of USMC F-35Cs and the Navy’s mix of F-35C, F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, and EA-18 Growlers, enhancing the current high-end deterrent with an additional and exponential factor.
 
This capability will be invaluable in terms of the impact it could have on world actors and their willingness to challenge American interests. Our TACAIR fleet—a mix of legacy and brand-new aircraft—works hand in glove with our helicopter and tiltrotor assets to bring the fight wherever the Nation calls.
 
 

​Marines Plan to Upgrade K-MAX Unmanned Cargo Helicopters Improve Ability to Autonomous Deliver Gear to Forward Positions”

Standing next to a remote airstrip Marines key a supply request into a small tablet computer and hit Send Button.

The demonstration is the latest development in an ambitious effort by the Marine Corps to use unmanned aircraft to resupply troops in the field. This demonstration, tests what the military calls a “pilot in a box.”

The Marines already have made headway in using pilotless aircraft. In recent operations an unmanned K-MAX helicopter was used to deliver supplies to remote outposts.
Sensors mounted onto the nose of the aircraft scan for obstacles. The computer steers the helicopter away from power lines and other hazards.

Although the current system requires visual contact between the ground controller and the aircraft at takeoff and at the point of delivery, cameras feed the necessary information to the controller during flight.

In addition to explicit ground control, the K-MAX can autonomously recalculate its route to avoid sudden hazards or no fly zones and deal with other problems that arise during missions.

Military commanders say the technology will allow them to send multiple unmanned aircraft into a battlefield to deliver supplies. If the enemy shoots down some of them, others will make it to the destination and units will not take any losses.

To avoid mountains of steel on the beach, Marine Corps wants to build a system where sensors in vehicles and other equipment determine when a part is needed and transmit the information to a headquarters, which delivers the replacement. A system like that will avoid having to stockpile a lot of parts during an operation.

The technology will allow the Marines to reduce the number of troops in logistics support, freeing up more for combat. You don’t want to assign war fighters to things that could be assigned to unmanned technology.

Marines deployed the K-MAX unmanned cargo delivery helicopters using experimental systems to carry tons of supplies to troops.

Now we’re getting them upgraded and retrofitted to get them back flying again. We hope to get them back soon, and that will allow us to go back and experiment more with autonomous systems."

The K-MAX is capable of carrying up to 6,000 pounds of cargo at a time, making it a logistics "workhorse, burning just over 80 gallons of fuel per hour during lift operations, making it the most efficient lift-to-fuel ratio of any helicopter in its class.

"We are hoping this research project will really help us get into the autonomous part of that particular system."

Marines want to develop a single, common data link to talk to anything unmanned "so we don't get into the situation where we have to have 10 different data links."

"When we talk about 'where we are going forward,' K-MAX opens up our ability to take whatever comes -- so that vehicle can be quickly integrate it into the weapon system.”

The simple, straight-forward design that uses fewer aircraft systems, shortens the load path between the engine and rotor system, enhancing the airframe's ability to handle the stress loads generated between the rotor system and cargo hook assembly during repeated lifting exercises.

K-MAX helicopter has dual-crossing rotors for increased precision.

The K-MAX uses a unique double rotor system where the two rotors cross each other called "intermeshing rotors." Its opposing rotors eliminate the need for a tail rotor. This makes the K-Max lighter, less costly to maintain and allows all of the power generated by the engine to turn the main rotors.

The two intermeshed rotors, which rotate in opposite directions at a slight angle so their blades don’t collide, greatly increase lift capabilities.

In fact, such design provides a one-to-one lift ratio so the K-MAX can carry up to 6,000 pounds, more than its own weight. This design also improves the vehicle’s stability in high altitude and hot temperature conditions and limits the noise signature of the craft.

Flaps, like those on a plane wing, are built into each rotor. They give the K-MAX more control than a conventional helicopter.

The key to the K-MAX helicopter's efficiency is an oversized intermeshing rotor system with servo-flap control. Operating without a tail rotor, all engine power is transferred directly to the large counter-rotating main rotors.

What's more, the K-MAX maintains its power and performance at high altitudes and temperatures and requires less maintenance than helicopters with the traditional tail rotor configuration.

The trolley system allows the cargo hook to move back and forth across the belly of the aircraft, enhancing load stability. The curved track in which the cargo hook rides is part of the heavily reinforced structure that delivers repeated and reliable lifting.

Teams were assigned to improve reliability and lifting capacity, hauling 6,000-pound loads at sea level and 4,000 pounds at 15,000 feet, with the strength partly thanks use of two intermeshing rotors on top of the aircraft.

K-MAX has intermeshing rotors eliminating the need for a tail rotor. These opposite-spinning rotors lend the K-MAX a natural tendency to hover, making it more stable for precision lifting and placing.

The setup eliminates the need for a tail rotor, which is usually needed to keep the aircraft from spinning uncontrollably, but sucks up about 30 percent of the engine’s power. Dropping the blades in back preserves that juice for lifting power. It also keeps the aircraft’s center of gravity over its payload hook, so carrying heavy loads is easier.

Outfitting the uncomplicated K-MAX—one engine, one transmission, no high-pressure hydraulic system, no tail rotor—for autonomous flight wasn’t overly difficult.

Compared to self-driving land vehicles which have to navigate on the ground, helicopters don’t come across many obstacles.

There was “not a lot of hardware that we had to add.
We tossed in actuators to physically move the controls in response to electronic commands, mission computers to tell them what to do, and a 3D imaging system to look out for suitable landing spots.

Past operations have required line of sight communication, meaning the transmitting and receiving stations can’t have any major obstacles between them.

During most missions, K-MAX was used at low altitudes and in mountainous regions, so maintaining a good connection wasn’t feasible. A ground controller can, however, use satellite communication and a laptop to change the mission at any point during flight.

K-MAX has flown thousands of delivery missions in combat, mostly at night, and lifted more than 4.5 million pounds of cargo. “We are experimenting with K-MAX ability to airlift the unmanned Squad Mission Support System into a mock hostile territory, to see if it’s possible to take troops out of danger altogether.

K-MAX uses a mission management system to translate the ground operator commands into viable mission plans and provides any necessary guidance while the craft is in the air. A ground controller uses a handheld tablet to interface with the K-Max as necessary.

K-MAX aircraft drew strong praise from enlisted Marines and top brass, but a decision was made to ground them so they can be have outfitted with advanced autonomous pilotage systems.

“What we have found is although you have logistics that you need to get to the right place at the right time, you also need a workhorse that just does this automatically. We’re hoping this research project helps us really get into the autonomous part of that particular system.”

“Sometimes there’s nothing unmanned about unmanned. “Some of our most precious assets right now are the folks that fly our unmanned systems. So, autonomy is key to try to alleviate the human link.”

Technologically, K-MAX is just plain useful. It started as a small one-man chopper before it was converted to a remotely piloted vehicle.

Tactically, K-MAX allows delivery of supplies to forward outposts by air, without risking human pilots or, worse yet, sending ground convoys through the gauntlet of ambushes.

“What stood out for many Marines was the permanent scorch marks burnt into the earth up and down ‘ambush alley. So many improvised explosive devices had gone off in one narrow mountain pass, an unavoidable chokepoint for supply convoys often times that stretch of road continually had scars marking where explosions had scorched the earth.

“Every piece of cargo flown via K-MAX is one piece of cargo that doesn’t need to put personnel in harm’s way going by ground convoy. Unlike manned choppers, “since it was an unmanned system, we were able to conduct flights during inclement weather when other helicopters couldn’t fly. “We flew during the night, in the rain, dust and high wind.

In the future, U.S. forces are likely to be spread more thinly on the ground, the distance and danger truck convoys must cover will only increase, and aerial resupply – especially aerial resupply with no pilots exposed to danger will only become more attractive.

That said, K-MAX is not a silver bullet for logistics. First of all, it’s not a truly autonomous robot: It requires a pair of human operators running it by remote control from the launch site and a third person at the destination to direct it where to drop the cargo, either by remote control or by placing a hockey-puck-sized homing beacon. In between, it flies automatically along a pre-set course, although the operators can always take back control to evade enemy fire or other hazards.

K-MAX is less expensive than manned choppers, according to the Navy admiral overseeing the program for the Marines. K-MAX cost “less than $1,500 per flight hour, an order of magnitude less than other manned rotary wing assets in the inventory.”

A big part of that low cost is that K-MAX has required less than 90 minutes of maintenance on the ground for every 60 minutes in the yet remained mission-capable over 90% of the time.

While K-MAX is cheaper than manned helicopters, it still carries a lot less cargo per dollar than old-fashioned trucks taking about 3 times the amount of flights than truck loads.

But those ground convoys aren’t so cheap because they require escorts and sometimes get blown up anyway, at a terrible cost to property and troops.

In the future when Marines will be pitted against a better-armed enemy than has been the case for almost two decades – one with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles or even just a lot of heavy machineguns – an unmanned aircraft might not be able to evade enemy fire.

Maybe that’s why the Marine Corps has not ordered a great deal more K-MAX aircraft than those now in service. Nevertheless, on any planet, robots are getting ever better at extending human capabilities, without risking human lives, in some very hazardous places.

Marines go to battle today with more equipment than any time in history. An average infantry battalion has about 8,400 pieces of equipment, up from 3,200 15 years ago. The weight each Marine carries in battle averages roughly 100 pounds, more than three times what a Marine carried in World War II.

“Infantry battalions have gotten a lot bigger and heavier,” said a Marine Corps statement.

The extra weight has made the Marines more lethal and increased their ability to protect troops on the battlefield.
But the need for all the equipment makes supply lines vulnerable and slows the mobility of Marines, an expeditionary force that likes to travel light.

Recent experiences drove home the need to streamline logistics support: Troops were distributed across vast areas, and threats made supply lines vulnerable.

“Whether the need is nighttime aerial firefighting, resupplying troops in austere locations, the next generation of the unmanned K-MAX will likely continue to demonstrate its unmatched readiness and efficiency no matter the requirement.”