AMC leaders push innovation as Ukrainian drone company pushes limits

Unavailable and outdated, what a government watchdog has to say about combat vehicles in the American arsenal

Plus, more potential problems in the Pacific, why America's near-peer adversaries are teaming up for a confrontation

And a drone swarm swatted, see how an American company is paving the way forward in counter-drone defense

Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare, a show made for people who want to know more about our national defense

Our mission is to arm you with information about America's warfighters and what they're doing to keep you safe

For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson, and we start this week with a look inside the Air Force's Air Mobility Command

and how its leadership is navigating budget constraints, aging aircraft, and an ever-changing list of potential threats

Fresh off several successful efforts in the Middle East, AMC's commander, General John LeMontagne

met with the media in a roundtable session at the AFA's Airspace and Cyber 2025 event

Despite those wins, though, he made it clear he's under no illusion about what it will take to build on that success going forward

If you look at what we just did, whether it was facilitating the B2s going out to Yemen or the B2s hitting Iran

a relatively safe environment, all things being equal. But that's not what we're going to be expected to do in the future

So we've got to be able to go into much higher threat environments. A little more than a year ago, LaMontagne took command of AMC's nearly 600 aircraft

It is my pleasure to introduce the 16th Commander of Air Mobility Command, General Johnny LaMontagne

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is great to be back in Air Mobility Command

Primarily responsible for carrying out the DoD's needs for airlift and air refueling

On the airlift side of the equation, the general says he wants AMC in a position to transition seamlessly from the C-5 and C-17 to the next generation of heavy lifters

The C-17 and C-5 have served us well for decades, but they're not going to fly forever

And so we'd like to recapitalize those on our timeline. You know, we've got a competition already going, a source selection, driving that towards the mid-2040 timeline

It's basically a two-for-one to replace both the C-17 and the C-5

La Montagne envisions a new airlifter that has the right defensive systems, is tactically agile, and easier to service

We're obviously a lot of risk on the ground, sitting on the ground somewhere, so don't want to sit on the ground for three hours if we could refuel in a lot faster timeline than that

Not that it takes three hours to refuel a C-17, but, you know, three minutes would be better than 30 minutes

Speaking of fueling, AMC got a dose of good news this past July

when Chief of Staff General David Alvin announced the plan to buy an additional 75 KC-46 Pegasus aerial refuelers from Boeing

That would eliminate the need for a bridge tanker to replace the aging KC-135 fleet

but they will not be saying goodbye to the strato taker anytime soon

We will be flying the KC-135 into the 2050s. And so that is a long time to maintain a legacy platform

Of course, it's not the same KC-135 that came into the inventory in the 1950s

And, you know, as we sit here today, we don't want it to be the same platform in the 2050s or 2060s

however long we're going to need to fly it. Of course, time is a commodity, something General Alvin made clear in his keynote address to the troops

Last time I checked, our mission says fly, fight, and win air power anytime, anywhere

So if you want to know what the pace is, that's the pace. We have to move out the pace to win

If we're not getting there, then we need to find another gear. When we asked General Lamontagne if these plans fit within that mindset

He pointed to two hurdles AMC needs to navigate to deliver on that mission statement

Equipping his fleet with cutting-edge sensors to operate in a contested environment

and the ability to defend against potential threats. The first step is being able to sense and make sense of the environment

If you can't make sense of the threat environment, you've got no chance. That's what we're trying to do on connectivity and that money is starting to flow

And then the next step is having defensive systems or an ability to actually defend the team

For that, the general says there are two options. Having someone else provide those defensive capabilities, like a fighter escort

or an onboard solution so his crews can defend themselves. We're trying to get to a place where we don't need somebody else to do it for us

and we can bring a lot more capability to the joint force in a much deeper threat environment

As for how they'll get that done, LaMontagne says all options are on the table

All right, I'm joined now by senior producer and Air Force veteran Brett Baker for some headlines you may have missed

And Brett, here's a headline. We have a lot of content that we're working on right now kind of in the background

Should we give folks kind of a sneak peek of that? I'll defer to you on that one

I mean they know we were in Ukraine so obviously we going to be bringing some stories back from there But yeah I defer to you on that one Yeah so we have some Ukraine stories both from the Defense Expo that we went to and we also went around Lviv and gathered some stuff but we putting together some stuff for Straight Arrow

So if you're a fan of the show, also be a fan of Straight Arrow News as our umbrella organization, because we have some good content coming that way

but we also were at the AFA's airspace and cyber event. We're getting ready to head to AUSA. So

over the next couple of weeks, folks, we might do a little bit of a pullback on some of the content

we're putting out, but that's just because we're working on some really great content in the

background that we want you to see. So, all right, that's enough of the behind the scenes stuff

Let's go ahead and take a look at those headlines. So there's this government watchdog

saying 80% of the Army and Marines combat vehicles aren't actually ready for combat

The Government Accountability Office revealed in a new report some significant readiness issues in the motor pool

Get this, Brett. Of the 18 Army combat and support vehicles that were yzed

16 were non-mission capable because of either part shortages or a decline in qualified maintainers

The Marine Corps is facing similar challenges, with five of its seven vehicles tested showing decreased readiness

The investigation lasted from 2015 to 2024 and showed as maintenance demands were going up, repairs and overhauls were going down, impacting operational availability

Brett, you go to war with the force that you have, not the force that you want

And imagine this is good news for the Indo-PACOM commanders. certainly it is not it would seem to be the worst version of the perfect storm when when you can't

get the parts you need and even if you were to get those parts you might not have enough maintainers

to put them to good use and get those vehicles back up and rolling it's just kind of another

sign of where i think the dod is in a lot of places with budget constraints and in manning

um it could you know i hope it's a one-off i don't think it's a one-off but you would you

would like to think that this is not a trend of things to come absolutely because if i mean if

this is a trend uh and more more of your vehicles don't work than do work uh how battle effective

can you really be uh so yeah to your point hope it's hope it's a one-off doesn't sound like it is

But hopefully the Department of Defense can figure it all out. All right. So speaking of the Pacific, a recent article in Defense News details how some British ysts found evidence that Russia is supplying military equipment and technology to China, potentially aiding preparations for an invasion of Taiwan

The Royal United Services Institute based its findings on some leaked Russian documents that outlined contracts and equipment, including high altitude parachute systems and some other amphibious assault vehicles

Those ysts believe that this support could enhance China's airborne capabilities by 10 to 15 years and improve its command training for parachute forces

and while the contracts may be in place, Brett, my question is, will the Kremlin be able to keep

up with those contract demands given the war with Ukraine is draining a lot of resources for Moscow

Yeah, I think my initial reaction to reading this story was they have stuff to give away or to deal

away and barter with. Yeah, it's interesting given the pinch that Russia is in and that China is not

in. They've got all the money in the world. They've got all the manpower in the world

So it is an interesting arrangement. I certainly think that, you know, there's part of it that just

to, you know, yank Uncle Sam's chain and get him talking about it. But it doesn't seem like this

would be a sustainable thing for the Russians, given their current situation in Ukraine

Yeah, I mean, we did a story a few months ago now at this point, Russia was using donkeys to

supply their front lines, which, you know, some terrains that might be better than, you know

getting your vehicle stuck in the mud, but no army wants to go to war with donkeys in their

logistics line. I kind of think that this might be more like Russia might be giving some pieces

of equipment as like demonstrators, you know, like here's, here's an amphibious assault vehicle

China, copy it, go build a bunch and give us some money so that we can, you know, keep fighting

Ukraine. That's kind of how I see this. Not really sure how it's all going to play out to your point

And finally, a piece of video you have to watch a couple of times to really appreciate what's

happening. At first glance, it looks like it's on pause, but it's not. It's an eight second clip

of 49 drones dying simultaneously and falling right out of the sky. The clip is from our friends

over at Epirus showing the results of a recent live fire demonstration where their Leonidas

platform was 100% successful against a 49 drone swarm consisting of two different drone types

all with one instant and low collateral pulse of electromagnetic interference. And in honor of

Leonidas, which is named after the Spartan King, let me just say, this is awesome

Nicely done The first time I saw the clip Our editor shared it in our Slack channel And I like what am I looking at It looked like it was on pause But then all of a sudden you see 49 drones just drop out of the sky

This isn't new. We've seen Leonidas work in ones and twos and threes and fours

But at this scale, at 49, that's a different ballgame. So definitely is an impressive test to be sure

And I think one that, you know, troops who are on the ground have to appreciate that, hey, we're heading in the right direction on this

Absolutely. On the ground and at sea. We know that Leonidas has some maritime applications as well

It's a software defined pulse is what they call it. So they can do, you know, swarms at a time, but they could also kind of narrow it down and do certain frequencies or kind of point it at certain drones

So that, you know, when you do a giant swath pulse, you're going to knock down your own stuff, too

Right. So if you can put your frequency stuff at a little bit different frequency than your enemy stuff

then the idea is, you know, potentially your stuff can keep flying while their stuff falls down

uh so yeah good job to the folks at epris for sure uh anytime i get to make a spartans

uh 300 quote i think it's a good story right well you're welcome because i picked that one

unmanned aerial vehicles have really kind of changed the game on the battlefield but the new

iteration of those are going to be bombers right so to hear talk to me a little bit more about that

is Danilo Pavlichenko. Did I say that right? Yes, thank you. Awesome. And you're with a company called Jet

So talk to me about this bomber that we have right here. The bomber is our new initiative that we have created ourselves

because we have our own R&D. It is a solution that provides up to 20 kilograms of payload capacity

It can fly technically up to 60 kilometers without the payload. With the payload, it is oriented for 15 kilometers one way and back

And it's something that is well used on the battlefield. And it's a game changer, basically

It's something that is very reliable in usage. Is it remote control? Is there any AI component to it

No AI component remote control. We have our ground control stations that come with it

we use Sinalink and other modules for the connection and it's fully controlled the

whole station has to be controlled by two people for its usage okay you also have some other products

behind you here some more FPV drones one of them that caught my eye is this one right here with the

fiber optic cable on the back of it fiber optic is unjammable and that's everyone's kind of saying

this is the wave of the future. What do you think? It definitely is. And if you look at the

battlefields of Ukraine, everything is filled with fiber optic. It's obviously for a reason

because with the electronic warfare that we have to fight, this is definitely the way to go

What we represent, we have fiber optic on a frame of 10-inch and 13-inch, flying 15 to 20 kilometers

We're also starting to create other modifications in the future to make it go in further

We also have represented Jet 10LR, which is for long range. It can fly for 40 kilometers plus, carrying up to one kilogram of payload

And what are you hoping to get from this show? Because I know that you don't necessarily have contracts yet

You're hoping to sign some? We do have contracts. We work directly with the different military units, a lot of organizations

It's just a way to show a portion of us, our heart and what we do

get new relationships going, collaborations with other companies, and to progress and put roots into other places as well

Thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate it. All right, folks, for CommsCheck this week, we are checking in with the good folks at JobsOhio

And here to talk a little bit more about that is J.P. Nassif with JobsOhio

Thank you so much for joining us today, J.P. Oh, thank you for having me. So the last time we talked to you, the big news was Arsenal

One had just been announced by Anderil. Obviously, that is not the last thing that JobsOhio has brought into your state

So kind of talk a little bit more about some of those projects. Well, we're really focused on advanced aerospace and defense industry

That's why we're here at the Air Force Association. It's really turned into quite a trade show

The environment is changing very, very fast. And how the Department of War, Department of Defense acquires weapon systems

Anduril and the Arsenal program is a great example of that. And so with our heritage in Ohio of aviation

going dating back to the Wright brothers and our heritage in space, you know, Neil Armstrong's from here

We have NASA Glenn and NASA Armstrong. We're really focused on this sector

It's a multi-trillion dollar economic opportunity. And we've got the workforce and the facilities and the diversity of our industry sectors to build a basis for that in Ohio

And that's what we're doing. So Anduril is busy implementing their factory, massive factory in central Ohio

We've got Joby Aviation building eVTOLs and comm systems close to Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio

Sierra Nevada, modifying aviation and airframe systems and doing maintenance on an airport an airfield in Dayton Ohio near Wright And I think what we finding is the intersection of where the customer this large customer

at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, intersects with this amazing heavyweight manufacturing capability, number three in the nation, the number one most productive workforce and labor

force in the Midwest, and the confluence of those things. And then when you combine affordability of the workforce, higher education institutions that can upskill and train and produce the workforce

the confluence of all those things becomes a very powerful value proposition

And it all goes to what's important for the country and making sure that America has the systems it needs to deter aggression from our adversaries

and make sure the men and women that serve and their families have the best they can have

at an efficient and effective cost basis for the American taxpayer. And that's what Ohio has to offer

You bet. A lot of states in the Midwest are experiencing the brain drain right now

Does Ohio have that? Or because of all of these industries, are you able to counteract that

where other states' brain drain is your brain gain kind of thing

Well, it's an interesting phenomenon, right? You know, back in the World War II era, the Midwest, Ohio, was the center of the industrial age

Then after World War II, transportation technologies, the interstate highway system, air conditioning gets invented, people migrate south and west

Trade agreements take our industry base south of the border, over oceans

You know, we all know what happened. And what's happening now, and you can see it, those great states on the coast, which I used to live in California

had a place in New York for quite a while. Those are wonderful states, but they've become a victim of their success

and everything they have that's great. And people are actually fleeing those states now

So, you know, after decades of out-migration of population and brain drain, as you call it

we've got the first net positive population in migration to our state since the 80s

Between 2019 and 2024, we had significant population in migration. 85% of the people that came back or came to Ohio were coming seeking one of those new jobs

And so, you know, we're not back to where we want to be, but we're definitely on our path

And leadership in this sector is so important to our heritage, important to the country

The people in Ohio care about it. And we've got capability that these industries need

We're on our way to leadership in this sector, for sure. JP, thank you so much for joining us today

I really appreciate your time. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors

All right, folks, for my wrap this week, I'm going to talk about something I know is going to make some of you mad

The U.S. government deploying the National Guard and other troops to American cities

But before you get angry and go off on me in the comments section, please hear me out first

Since taking office, President Trump deployed the Guard to several American cities

with the mission of protecting federal workers and facilities. That is within his scope of power as the head of our nation's executive branch

Just like it's within the scope of power for federal district judges

to put temporary holds on presidential orders to make sure there isn't an abuse of power

If you've been paying attention, you know over the course of the last several weeks

President Trump and his administration toyed with the idea of expanding the troop deployments even further

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Anthony Salisbury, a top deputy to White House official Stephen Miller

was even caught using the Signal messaging app in public to talk about sending the 82nd Airborne to Portland

President Trump himself talked about using American cities as training grounds for the U.S. military

When a Trump-appointed judge put a hold on the president's plan to federalize the Oregon National Guard and send it to Portland

the president tried to go around the order by sending in Guard members from California and Texas

a move which Judge Karen Emmergut also blocked. But the judge's decisions do not represent a legal insurrection, as White House aide Stephen Miller put it

They represent our separate but equal branches of government performing their constitutionally mandated duties

And this all comes after another district judge in California ruled that the June deployment of guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles was, in fact, illegal

The judge said the administration's actions represented a clear and willful violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

because the military was being used to perform law enforcement duties. I hope we can all agree, as Americans, that ours is a nation of laws

that upholding those laws and abiding by them are important, because that's what holds our society together

That's what keeps our republic intact. And that's going to do it for us this week on Weapons and Warfare

As always, if you like what you saw and or heard, please like and subscribe to our social media feeds

and download the Straight Arrow News app today. Like Brett and I were saying earlier

we have a pretty big backlog of content to roll out from Ukraine

and a couple of defense expos in D.C., so keep an eye out for all of those stories headed your way

In the meantime, for senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, and motion artist Dakota Patio

I'm Ryan Robertson for Straight Arrow News, signing off