This week on Weapons and Warfare, host Ryan Robertson explores the U.S. Army's efforts to enhance and expand its watercraft fleet.
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The U.S. Navy is sick of spending millions of dollars to take down drones that cost thousands
0:10
These cutting-edge hypervelocity projectiles could help. And they're calling it Golf Force One
0:16
We take a look at what's likely the most heavily armored golf cart in history
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Hey, everyone, and welcome to Weapons and Warfare, a show made for folks who want to know more about the U.S. national defense
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Our goal here is pretty simple. We want to help you have an informed conversation about what's happening with America's military
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So for Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson, and we're starting this week with the U.S. Army and a mission you might not know that it has
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Believe it or not, this is not a Navy vessel. It's an Army landing craft
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You see, it says it right there, U.S. Army. And as Army leadership continues to reshape their force with an eye on a potential conflict in the Pacific
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the importance of the Army's fleet of watercraft just continues to grow
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Think of the U.S. Army in action, and it's likely tanks and helicopters are part of the picture
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Identify! Fire! And while they're not as connected with the country's oldest branch of the military
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watercraft play a crucial role in the Army's power projection, especially in places like the Indo-Pacific
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It's responsible for moving supplies, equipment, and troops in deep ocean water, shallow coastal waters, inland waterways, even rivers
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I liken it to having a bunch of different tools in the toolbox that we can employ in that dynamic distribution network that I just described
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sea lines of communication, airlines of communication, and ground lines of communication
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and watercraft will be a connector of many of those different other modes and bringing that to bear
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Colonel William Arnold is the Chief of Transportation for the U.S. Army's Transportation Corps
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At this year's AUSA Global Force Symposium in Alabama, he led a session focused on the future
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of Army watercraft, acknowledging while the Army's current fleet of vessels is aging
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it's still capable of meeting mission demands and at some point integrating with emerging tech
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We're looking for help to understand how can we do littoral mapping without having to put mariners in the water to go figure out what beach gradients are
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for example, to see if we can beach one of our watercraft. We're looking for capabilities that are out there to do that rapidly
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be able to use AI to feed decisions back into the mariner populations
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before we decide we're going to bring any vessel or any capabilities to a beach, for example
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According to the Government Accountability Office, here's what the Army has at its disposal
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and what's on the horizon. Eight logistics support vessels that are capable of delivering vehicles
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and general cargo. 17 LCUs, that stands for Landing Craft Utility. Those are capable of
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delivering 350 short tons of cargo or 320 combat-equipped personnel. Next up, nine LCMs, that's Landing Craft Mechanized
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Those carry troops, cargo, and equipment. There are six small tugs for repositioning other watercraft
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and 30 modular causeway systems for a total of 70 watercraft. Plus, the Army is expected to acquire 13 new maneuver support vessels by 2036
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So that capability right there is really a new capability that we're bringing in that can maneuver in the tactical zone and maneuver forces very rapidly in and around the littoral areas
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Brigadier General Shane Upton of the Army Futures Command tells us Army leadership is also looking to industry partners and embracing the opportunities autonomous vessels offer a force with a growing list of responsibilities while experiencing potentially tighter budgets
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We're going to put autonomous boats in the water as the Army, and we're going to pair them with those mariners
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and have them learn the collaborative behaviors, how to command and control them
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give us an assessment and feedback from a soldier that does this
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for the United States Army in a forward theater. Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas LaFerrety
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with the Army's Combined Arms Support Command says it's about embracing the idea of doing a lot more with less
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We're open to tiers of autonomy on our current craft, how we can just take one step up the ladder to potentially reduce that load and make those warfighters lives a little bit more focused, right? Let their focused energy be on the threat at its hand
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For all that's different between the Army and Navy's fleets, there are parallels, especially in terms of maintenance
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According to that GAO report we talked about earlier, the Army's watercraft fleet experienced a significant drop in its fully mission-capable rate
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falling from 75% in 2020 to less than 40% in 2024. Major General Michael Layler of the Army's Tank Automotive and Armaments Command
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is backing a push for 3D printing in the field to turn things around
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The idea is fix forward, deliver forward, and this particular level of maintenance in watercraft is ripe for it
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because no two watercraft is all you know out there, many of you who are near and dear to your heart
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None of them are the same. They're snowflakes. And so there's all sorts of nonstandard parts that could be advanced manufactured
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And honestly, it's a great it's a great ground for expansion of technology and solving problems
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So what's next? How does the Army's fleet overcome its maintenance issues and stand ready for action in the Pacific
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Should the call come? First, General Laylor says like the Navy, the Army is actively looking for allied partners to help bridge the gap
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We are, next year, going to expand our ability to contract maintenance to other countries that we haven't used before
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Predominantly, we've been west coast, east coast, Hawaii, Japan, Korea. Now we going to see us expand to Guam Singapore Philippines Australia you name it I been to most of them in the last six months trying to drum up some business and business will be good
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As for adding watercraft, in March, then Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army Pacific, Major General Jeffrey Vanantwerp
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told Stars and Stripes in a conference call, quote, that leased vessels provide a pretty phenomenal capability and a pretty high level of readiness
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No word yet on how many, if any, vessels have been leased
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All right. Joined now by super producer Brett Baker. Brett, when we were putting this story together, you know, we have talked about the Army using ships before
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But really, when we, you know, start doing the research on it, it's really surprising how many boats the Army has
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I will say, you know, we've learned a lot, I think, in the course since, you know, we started producing this show
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And, yeah, I didn't really know that the Army even had boats or vessels
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And, yeah, so I think it's a really interesting part of the puzzle, especially with how they're building things for the Indo-Pacific and where they think things are going to go
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These things are going to play a very important role in whatever that becomes
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so it's obviously important for the army to put a priority on that and kind of get where they need
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to be which they're not right now right right and the idea of leasing uh some vessels i mean that
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that could be a a good move in a pinch but when you lease a vessel you don't own the vessel
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and i mean we did a story on you know the right to repair you know last week so it's like if
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I just have kind of some qualms about it. When you lease it and don't own it, can the owner
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refuse to let you use it for a time? I mean, it just kind of introduces a quagmire. So owning is
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usually better when it comes to military equipment, in my opinion. Definitely an interesting work
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around. I will say, obviously, though, you know, if you lease it, then maybe you've got more readily
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access to it than what they've got right now. I mean, right now they're in a short fall
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from the vessels they need. One thing I was thinking is, you know
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they're replacing the landing craft mechanized with the MSRV lights, the maneuver support vehicle light
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I can see a scenario where they keep both of those for a time
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if they're in the need because they've already got them. Yes, they're supposed to be replaced and cycled out
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But if you need the vessels, you've got vessels. so I could see a place where those just kind of stay in
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The other thing I kind of found interesting is they make it a real point. They're not sailors
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They're mariners. And so, like, yeah, I never thought an Army mariner is kind of an interesting thing
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But, yeah, it's something the Army is going to have to work for, work hard for coming up in these next few years to try to get that fleet
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you know, where they want it to be. Absolutely. And we have some more fleet news to talk about in our headline segments
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So without further ado, Brett, let's get to it. Some interesting news coming out of a House Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. Navy posture and capabilities this past June
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In August of last year, the USS Jason Dunham tested BAE Systems hypervelocity projectiles during a composite training unit exercise as part of a Navy initiative to enhance low-cost air and missile defense against unmanned aerial systems
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We've reported on this projectile before. I recently spoke with Tate Westbrook, the Senior Director for Naval Weapons at BAE Systems
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He's a retired Navy captain and a Commodore with nearly three decades of service
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And I talked to him about what this capability brings to the force. Despite Navy's efforts to date, we still cannot reload missiles at sea underway
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They're working on it, but we're not there yet. So when you're out of missiles, you're out of missiles and you're out of the fight
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The great news is with five inch projectiles, we can reload on a regular basis anywhere around the world
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U.S. Navy and allies can replenish their five inch weapon, five inch bullets at sea anywhere in the world
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The trials involved the Dunham testing HVP while the USS The Sullivans tested Lockheed Martin's Longbow Hellfire, Andrell's Roadrunner and Raytheon's Coyote
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Those tests are part of a military effort to rapidly integrate new technologies for counter UAS operations
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Some systems are already deployed on ships, including the Longbow Hellfire on the USS Indianapolis, which is in the Red Sea
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uh and you know brett really this this hypervelocity projectile while it's the navy was
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doing the testing on it um tate westbrook said that there's also a version where they can put
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it in a 155 millimeter party round uh because it's it's an under caliber undersized caliber
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round so they just put some sabos on it it'll fit on a 45 uh mark 45 deck gun which is what
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the Navy's using it with, and, you know, you can throw it in a Paladin or any NATO standard 155
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artillery launcher, and suddenly you have a hypervelocity projectile that can correct its
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path in the air. Pretty cheap answer for a lot of these drones, cheap cruise missiles that are
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filling the airs right on the battlefields. Absolutely, and it's something that has been
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a big priority for the Pentagon is to get these more replicable, cheaper, faster kind
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of products out to the folks who are having to do the job
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And it's an interesting development. Obviously, there's, you know, obviously still work to be done, but putting these in the
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hands of the operators is going to be a big deal when they can finally get that done. Yeah. And last final thing I want to say about this is just the speed of which this was developed
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I remember when you and I first heard about it early last year at a Navy League expo in National Harbor
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And then fast forward you know eight months and they testing it at sea So just the rapid development of this new type of weapon was really kind of phenomenal in my mind All right let get to the next one
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Sticking with the Navy, the newly confirmed Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Darrell Cottle
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has expressed openness to early retirement of the USS Boise due to prolonged maintenance delays
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It's a big admission considering the Navy is short 17 attack submarines from their formal requirement of 66
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The sub was originally launched in 1991. It conducted a few operations, more than a few
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It was conducting operations for 25 years, but it has been unable to dive since 2017 due to a maintenance of, or excuse me
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a series of maintenance delays that denied it a timely availability at one of the nation's four
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public shipyards, which are primarily responsible for the maintenance of nuclear-powered subs and
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aircraft carriers. Brett, USS Boise, it's a Los Angeles-class submarine. These were
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slated to be replaced by Virginia-class submarines, but still not great if you're down one for
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it's over you know what I mean for Cottle being a submarine guy himself
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it is a big admission that maybe it's time to just kind of cut bait
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one of the things that we learned in writing this story up was that
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not only is it docked and they're working on it but they've had to
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keep it staffed for all of these years because it's still a nuclear powered submarine
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so you still have to have folks there manning that you got to have security
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around it. So it's kind of like a manpower energy, you know, train that's not really going anywhere
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right now. So that's a big admission to say, maybe it's time to write it off
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And you wonder how much money has been spent over the years doing security, keeping the nuclear
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material in a stable condition, like all of the things that you have to do. You can't just kind
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of park it out back and say, all right, it's, it's good or sink it in a sink X exercise and
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you know, make a coral reef out of it. Like a lot of, a lot of maintenance and upkeep is required
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on these nuclear powered vessels. Uh, so yeah, uh, it's interesting. We'll see how it goes
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Uh, and speaking of interesting, this next story, uh, definitely some, some interest
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So during his recent trip to Scotland, president Donald Trump hit the links for a round of golf
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a few rounds of golf nothing unusual about that but this time he was followed by an armored
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Polaris Ranger X utility vehicle designed to provide ballistic protection uh the war zone
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is reporting the vehicle now dubbed Gulf Force One by the press is part of the presidential fleet
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of specialty vehicles according to a White House spokesperson uh Brett I was kind of looking into
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it like hey if i wanted one of these things um how do i get it so polaris makes the the base unit but
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the the ballistic kit uh those are third party like polaris doesn't necessarily make that
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um but they could cost upwards of two hundred thousand dollars which maybe makes it the most
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expensive golf cart of all time i'm not sure about a golf cart aficionado uh but i mean it it came out
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eight months after some guy tried to take a shot at president Trump at a golf course. So
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kind of a good idea. I think my first thought was like, move over Popemobile
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We've got a new radical vehicle in the, uh, protection market for, you know, world leaders
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Right. Um, but yeah, uh, if, if the man's going to be out golfing, uh, and folks are going to have
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bad intentions, it's probably a good idea to have something like this. Even as funny as it is saying
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Golf Force 1. But it is a pretty serious little piece of equipment
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I have to imagine they did some suspension modifications once they got it
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all armored up. Yeah, standard kitted out Razor is not going to be able to
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Polaris is not going to be able to carry that much. But like we did on our recent story, Polaris makes one
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that can carry 3,600 pounds with the short axle on there. So, you know, I don't
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think all that all that ballistic uh armor is going to weigh that much but it's going to be
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going to be uh able to able to carry now is this going to travel with i mean obviously it was in
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scotland with them so my mind goes to okay so the logistics of packing golf force one or do they have
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multiple golf force ones well you know what they call his car the beast and i know that they take
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the beast with them wherever they go. I have, I have a feeling it's probably not that big a deal
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If they've got room in the 747 to slide in Gulf force one as well
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We'll see. Well, uh, I guess, uh, when they come out with the new air force one, if there's like a
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a toy hatch on the back of it that we can see this thing rolling out of, that'd be pretty cool
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That'd be awesome. All right. Hey, Brett, thanks for joining us again. You got it
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If there's a word that best describes what American military leadership is looking for in today's weapon systems, it's versatility
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They want systems that can serve multiple purposes across multiple platforms. It's a description that certainly fits the joint air-to-ground missile, the Jagam, and that's why it's our Weapon of the Week
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Officially known as the AGM-179 and built by Lockheed Martin, the Jagam was designed to
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replace the aging Hellfire and TOW missiles on rotary wing and unmanned aircraft
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In use since 2022, the Jagam represents a progression in air-to-ground missile technology
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offering a more versatile, precise, lethal, and adaptable weapon system that can take on
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a wide array of battlefield challenges. So the missile is effective against air threats, ground threats, and maritime threats
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And regardless of what platform I operate the missile from, whether from aircraft, from
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ships or from ground systems the missile is capable against those threats The Jagum comes in two variants The MR for medium range targets and the F for the fighter fixed wing fast mover crowd You can increase the range of mission sets for the Jagum by throwing it in a quad launcher too which can then be mounted on a vehicle or a vessel at sea making it a very capable piece of any unit arsenal
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With our concept, the ship can maintain on station and provide a reload by drawing missiles out of the magazine, sourcing the launcher
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And then as you draw missiles from the magazine, should you need more, I can bring missiles out to the ship, refill the magazine so the ship can stay on station for much longer periods of time
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One of the biggest problems the Jagum addresses that previous systems like the Hellfire had issues with is its ability to see the target no matter what's clouding the picture on the battlefield
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Mark Mahaffey, a retired marine helicopter pilot and now a senior business development manager for Lockheed Martin, says the guidance capability of the Jagum makes it a difference maker
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It's got a dual-mode seeker. It's got both a semi-active laser seeker and an active millimeter wave sensor, which gives the missile a true fire-and-forget capability
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Because of that capability, other services, other platforms are looking at it as an affordable option to address the emergent threats on the battlefield today
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The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are the primary users of the JAGEM
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But Uncle Sam said it's okay to sell them to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands
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And the Texas of Europe, Poland, is also planning to acquire the missile
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I'm allowed to make that joke, Texas. I was born there, and I remember a world with Furs Cafeteria
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Alright folks, for this week's Comps Check, we have an update on a staff favorite here at Weapons in Warfare, the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray
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For those of you new to the program, first, thank you for joining
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but you should also know the MQ-25 is a carrier-based unmanned aircraft system
21:30
a.k.a. a drone. Stingrays will refuel and extend the range of the carrier air wing
21:36
as well as relieve manned aircraft like the F-A-18 from having to carry out tanker duties
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The nearly decade-old project has had some mixed news of late. Some good, some not so good
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On the bright side, during a recent quarterly earnings call, Boeing's president and CEO, Kelly Ortberg, had an update on the Stingray
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On MQ-25, the team began ground testing and successfully worked through the production move
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to our new facility, bringing the program closer to first flight for the U.S. Navy
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Unfortunately, the news isn't all sunshine. A new budget document from the Secretary of the
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Navy's office reveals the expected operational date for the project was pushed to the third
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quarter of 2027. That's after already being pushed to 2024 and then 2026. The Navy plans to
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eventually acquire about 76 stingrays and wants enough funding in its 2026 budget
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for three production units. Each unit carries a current cost of around $161 million
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All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors
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All right, folks, that's going to just about do it for this week's episode. Like we said at the top of the show, our mission at Weapons and Warfare is to help regular people understand more about the U.S. military and why taxpayers are being asked to spend a trillion dollars a year on it
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If you want to help us in that mission, you can download the Straight Arrow News app and start sharing our content on your social feeds
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For my wrap this week, I'm going to share some of my thoughts on a story I saw on my social feeds
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This one right here. It's about a city councilman in Danville, Virginia
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It's a small town, so he still needs a day job to support his wife and kids
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That's where he was when another man, Shotzi Michael Buck Hayes, came into his office and dumped gasoline on Vogler
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The two went outside and Buckley Hayes lit Vogler on fire. Buck Hayes later told police he wanted Vogler to die
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He didn't. He just received severe burns to 60% of his body and will likely require years of treatment to recover
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Instead of expressing concern for their fellow humans, though, or dismay that we're now at a point in society where we're lighting each other on fire in frickin' parking lots
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comment section was full of people wondering what sort of city councilman Vogler was
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Was he a Republican or a Democrat? because the answer to that question somehow determines the level of compassion
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that we will show someone who was the obvious victim of a horrible crime
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a crime which stemmed from a personal argument and had nothing to do with the fact Vogler was on the city council
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In moments like this, I often think back to the words of Congresswoman Barbara Lee
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She was a Democrat from California, and after the 9-11 attacks in 2001
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She was the only person to speak out against the authorization to use military force, which gave President Bush and all successive presidents the ability to use the military without congressional approval
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It was a time of raw emotion in our country. We were hurt and we wanted someone to pay for it
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So when she said, as we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore, for some of us, myself included, that was hard to hear
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We wanted retribution and she was telling us to use our heads
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24 years later, tens of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars
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Turns out Barbara Lee was probably right. So, in our current climate of political division and economic hardships
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when many of us are feeling hurt, betrayed, and abandoned, remember, as we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore
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For senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, and motion designer Dakota Patio
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I'm Ryan Robertson, Straight Arrow News, signing off
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