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Article is from military news




As sailors and Marines are sailing in more contested waters, the blue-green team is getting creative about how to defend amphibious assault ships from enemy small boats and drones.
Members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit were photographed sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf this week with a Light Armored Vehicle on the flight deck.

The armored vehicle can be seen in the background of photos released by the Marine Corps on Wednesday, showing AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters flying off the amphibious assault ship Boxer. The LAV was first spotted by Phil Ewing, national security editor at NPR.
Sailing through or near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that runs between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, has been contentious in recent months.
In July, the 11th MEU jammed one Iranian drone -- and possibly two -- that flew within 1,000 yards of the Boxer. Iranians also seized a British tanker in the strait last month. And in June, two oil tankers were attacked in the nearby Gulf of Oman.
Maj. Gen. David Coffman, director of expeditionary warfare, said last year that Navy and Marine leaders were coming up with innovative ways to defend ships in contested areas. They've typically relied on aircraft, he said, but now they're getting more creative to combat new threats.
"I can tell you I watched a MEU commander strap an LAV to the front of a flight deck because it had better sensors than the ship did to find small boats," Coffman said during an event hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., last fall. "... The LAV guys will sit up there."
Marines have put an LAV on an amphib flight deck in another disputed waterway. In September, members of the 31st MEU parked an LAV on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship Wasp during a training exercise in the South China Sea, Marine Corps Times reported last year. The MEU's weapons company fired the LAV's M242 chain guns and coaxial M240C medium machine guns at simulated targets in the ocean during the exercise, the paper reported, which was meant to prep sailors and Marines for transiting through dangerous waters.
This isn't the first time the 11th MEU has turned to a land vehicles to defend the Boxer.
Marines were able to take down the Iranian drone last month by using a weapon system that fits onto a pair of small MRZR all-terrain vehicles. The system is equipped with high-power sensors and jamming technology, which the Marines used when the drone got too close to the ship.

It would seem that the M-I-C has failed to anticipate asymmetrical seaborne warfare.

ooh rah!

they need to do what ever it takes to keep our fighters safe .cut back on welfare rides and send it to people who keep use free

We need to upgrade some ships too or at least the weapons and electronics.

Absolutely correct!
If somebody gets in their space, I hope they blow the chit out of them

What could that vehicle provide that aircraft can't do better?

Or is it a duty cycle/co$t thing.

I understand that manning it 24/7 would be next to no cost, or maintenance issue,
compared to constant operation of aircraft. But, an aircraft can go up, get a better view,
And engage 360 degrees, easily.


Not a Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or a Pilot,
right, wrong or both?

The article I read stated the sensors on the vehicle were more advanced/better then the sensors on the ship for detecting/engaging small boats.

"Ocean skeet"- - - - -sounds like a good way to send Iran's bass boat "Navy" to the bottom.

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Thumb's up for our guys !......... I'm sure that the Navy will be retrofitting ships with those type of sensors that pick up the small stuff better. They have already improvised cleverly with that LAV on deck. Then they will adapt those sensors onto naval vessels, and then they will overcome those types of threats.

Those Cobras look like prickly bastids....

When I read the title "Innovative US Marines" - my first thought was "Oh no, what did they steal now?"

I wouldn't be surprised if the USMC report on this actually states that the Marines successfully mounted a ship under the Light Armored Vehicle...

Oooh Rah! Good stuff guys! Do whatever it takes to win!

I'm glad they figured out a way to keep our people safer and are using the best tool for the job. Interesting that there isn't a fleet/wing of drones/UAVs capable of the task.

Like the ship to the LAV is similar to a grenade launcher under an M-4?

I understand the sensors are better than the ships.
But better than the Cobra's.
And like Dan says, I just can't imagine a more hateful sight than to be stuck in a little boat,
miles from shore, with that hateful ass waspish F'er lining my dumb ass up to get
A 900 mph missle proctological probe.

I like the idea of parking a motorized weapon on the side the deck. When it malfunctions you can just drive it to one side and park another, instead of having to fix the broken weapon in place.

Dont you know those Devil Dogs in that LAV are just ITCHING for an Iranian speed boat to bring it on so they can get some.