Soldiers assigned to the 25th Infantry Division perform an air assault mission at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, September 10-13, 2021 (US Army/Daniel Proper)
Washington: The US military is in the midst of a generational modernization effort, budget crunch and a shift away from the Middle East to focus on threats from China and Russia. But that will be the focus for another piece of the year-end. For this, we can only have fun.
Here are the stories from 2021 (or from my three months with Breaking Defense) that I enjoyed the most or found the most interesting. And if you don’t notice right away, there’s a common theme: I have to leave the house for the sake of these stories.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2021 and look forward to what 2022 may hold.]
1) The lack of a future solution does not stop the vertical army’s future experiments in the desert
Many of the Army’s modernization programs will not be deployed until late 2020, including the Army’s Future Helicopter: Futuristic Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft and the Future Long-Range Attack Plane. But that hasn’t stopped the Army’s Future Vertical Lift Team from experimenting with advanced technologies that will one day be outfitted on future helicopters. Breaking Defense is out to Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, with FVL-CFT to learn more about the first 28 operations they completed during the Army’s annual probe launch trial and how the FVL team isn’t waiting for new technology to mature for future helicopters unscheduled for multi-year delivery.
2) In the beginning, army soldiers fight with and against motorized vehicles during training
The military plans to use robots on the future battlefield – and so do the armies of Russia and China. On the first of this year, the Army incorporated a motorized vehicle into an opponent’s force during a training center course at Fort Polk, Los Angeles. The Army has learned how motorized vehicles can be an effective component of the battlefield, preventing intersections and blocking helicopter landing areas while reducing the number of soldiers at risk. But she also learned how fighting against a motorized vehicle can affect her soldiers. The training center’s rotation offered a glimpse into the future of war.
3) Elimination of “excess”: new army sites prepare units to receive modern equipment
The Army currently has “31 + four”, or 35 priority programs for modernization that will be deployed at various times over the next decade. This means that the service will have to take thousands of pieces of equipment out of units across the country – a huge raise. How exactly do they plan to do this? With new modernization and displacement sites and repairs at facilities across the country that will produce decades-old equipment from units to prepare it to receive its newer equipment at a later date. Breaking Defense spoke with the general leading the effort in October.
4) In Project Convergence, the army “struggles” to see a common battlefield while responding to “difficult” lessons
Another example from Project Convergence, where Army commanders said they learned “difficult” lessons. As services work toward common command and control across the board, the Affinity Project provided a place for them to try to create a common cross-operating image, where the commander could see the assets regardless of the service on the battlefield. The military found that if they tried to do this now, they would need four screens. The problem is that the systems the military uses for common operating images are service-specific and don’t easily communicate with each other. The exercise revealed the amount of work to be done.
5) “Raising” Hidden Ideas: Inside the Army Dragon’s Lair Invention Contest
Defense leaders in Washington are constantly discussing the talent and innovation in their ranks. We rarely see him at work. Just this month, Breaking Defense participated in the sixth installment of the Dragon’s Lair Innovation Competition for the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps that saw soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines present their best ideas to improve soldiers’ lives. For the first time, the competition, modeled after the popular ABC show Shark Tank, resulted in a three-way tie. Winners’ ideas – a new M88 gunner’s restraint system, a cooling jacket and software that predicts building floor plans – will now look for partners within the government to continue development.
.