The Art of War

The Art of War: Sentinel

The LGM-35 Sentinel, also known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), is a future American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) currently in the early stages of development. It is slated to replace all 450 Minuteman II missiles from 2029 through 2075. The Minuteman missiles are currently stationed in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska.

In 2020, the Department of the Air Force awarded defense contractor Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion sole-source contract for development of the LGM-35 after Boeing withdrew its proposal. Northrop Grumman’s subcontractors on the LGM-35 include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Bechtel, Honeywell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Parsons, Textron, and others.

On January 19th, 2024, the USAF announced that the program’s costs had risen to over $125 billion—37% above the initial $95.3 billion budget—and its deployment would be delayed by two years. A revised cost estimate released by the Department of Defense on July 8th, 2024, put total program acquisition costs for the Sentinel program at $140.9 billion.

The United States Air Force plans to procure 634 Sentinel missiles, plus an additional 25 missiles to support development and testing, to enable the deployment of 400 missiles. According to the Air Force, the program also includes modernizing “450 silos and more than 600 facilities across almost 40,000 square miles”

Several months ago, the National Interest published an article discussing the Sentinel ICBM initiative, outlining the impact the updated missile program will have on our national defense, as well as cost overruns and slipping milestones the program has faced since inception. They also point out that not only are new missiles being developed but so too is the infrastructure, which in most cases date back to the Cold War and the use of old analog technology. According to the National Interest, “the program plans to produce over 600 new missiles, upgrade or construct hundreds of facilities, and lay nearly 8,000 miles of new, underground fiber optic cabling for command and control. This massive enterprise spans 40,000 square miles and involves six states. Assumptions were made during early cost estimates that some of the facilities currently in use could be refurbished and reused to save money and time, which has compounded the cost overruns.”

While Congress will have to review the escalating costs of the program, its doubtful they will cut or even cancel the Sentinel since it makes up the all-important land leg of our nuclear triad system — a defensive strategy that has been in effect for over seventy years. The other two legs of our nuclear triad strategy involves long-range bombers flown to the target from deep within the continental US and submarine-based missiles that are submerged and moved about the oceans to help them avoid detection. The three systems are designed to work in concert with one another should an adversary hack or destroy our missiles with a massive first strike. As such, its unlikely the DoD will revamp what has become the bedrock of our offensive ICBM system, one that is meant to deter an adversary from launching their own missiles at the continental US.

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The Art of War: “A Human in the Loop”

Military World has posted an intriguing yet informative video discussing BAE’s Atlas unmanned combat system. Atlas, which stands for Autonomous Tactical Light Armour System (ATLAS) Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), could well become one of the first unmanned combat systems to be fielded by a major combatant, although no nation has yet to sign on to the program. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear as if Australia, where the Atlas is being developed, will serve with the Australian Army. This could change should the Atlas prove its worth against and alongside crewed combat systems.

While Atlas is being created to operate without a crew, nor is it intended to ferry troops into battle like a traditional infantry fighting vehicle, it is being designed from the ground up with a “man in the loop”, meaning a human operator must first identify enemy troops, drones and aircraft within range of the vehicle before firing, thereby reducing the likelihood of fratricide. Its not clear if Atlas will eventually see service with Ukrainian forces in their war against Russia, thereby giving the system a chance to prove its value alongside a myriad of crewed combat systems.

For more information on Atlas, visit the manufacturer’s web site at BAE Systems.

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The Art of War: Film at Eleven

There’s no shortage of military-themed videos on You Tube, covering everything from unheard of battles to potential near-term conflicts. We regularly peruse the site, looking for pertinent information that either helps to sell the product we carry or addresses items of interest to the average military enthusiast. Some videos and influence peddlers use all sorts of graphics to draw you in, from Transformer-like images used to depict upcoming aircraft to film clips that have nothing to do with the subject at-hand. At the end of the day, many of these videos are little more than flash without any appreciable substance.

There are, however, several “influencers” that I regularly check out if I’m looking for reliable information on historical topics or the latest in behind-the-scenes information that no one else seems to possess. One is Airpower, which is run and narrated by the gravelly-voiced Alex Hollings, who regularly does his homework before putting pen to paper and voice to video discussing his salient position. Recently, for instance, Alex spent 30-minutes explaining why the US Air Force has been using similarly shaped missiles for the last sixty years and how it could take its game to the next level by investigating some new technologies now coming on line.

For historical videos, I oftentimes turn to Megaprojects, hosted by the prolific Simon Whistler. Simon has posted literally dozens of self-narrated videos covering everything from Maxim machine guns to Iran’s attempt at building a stealth fighter. While he does branch out and covers other topics of interest such as China’s electric car industry, its his military-themed videos that have proven to be the most invaluable, using period war-time clips, animations and other proven videographic techniques to draw the viewer in from start to finish.

There are other “influencers” that I some times turn to that seem to know what they’re talking about either because they were once in the military themselves or have access to unclassified data and information that the average person has no idea how to get. These include Mark Felton Productions, Military News, Defense News, Task & Purpose and War & History, to name just a few. Anyway, be careful who you turn to to get the latest word on military platforms still in development as well as battles of yesteryear that may be tainted by extremist political viewpoints.

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The Art of War: The XM-30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle

While much is being made about the future of main battle tanks within today’s US Army, less has been discussed regarding an eventual replacement for the aging M2/M3 family of Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles. An attempt was made way back in 2014 to come up with a solution under the Ground Combat Vehicle program, although plans were eventually scrapped due to limited Congressional funding and weight concerns. A new answer, dubbed the Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) program, was put forward by the DoD several years ago to come up with a better and more agile replacement for the venerable Bradley — one that could take advantage of the latest technological achievements being made across the entire military spectrum.

In early 2025, the FFV program calls for two separate competitors to field their efforts to determine which will become the newly crowned king of IFVs, with the winner being selected in 2027 and the first set of production vehicles supposedly seeing service as early as 2029. Bear in mind that eleven different variants of the XM-30 are being proposed, from the traditional infantry fighting vehicle to field ambulances and mortar carriers, so every aspect of the design will be looked at closely to determine its value in each role. Additionally, careful attention will be paid to the vehicle’s weight, profile, crew carrying capability, firepower, both active and passive protection systems from a wide array of potential kinetic threats, and ultimate cost given its range of wartime responsibilities. The accompanying video does an excellent job of explaining the program in greater detail as well as discussing the merits of the two contenders who will soon go head-to-head to seek final approval.

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The Art of War: The Super Raptor – Apex Predator of the Skies

With costs continuing to escalate for the now suspended US Air Force’s proposed Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project, I sometimes wonder if it was premature to abruptly end the F-22 production line in favor of committing the bulk of the manufacturer’s resources to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Historians, pundits and aviation aficionados all agree that the F-22 Raptor is an aircraft par excellence, with no equivalent ready to challenge it in the near term despite what some may say. So spending untold wealth on an aircraft still in development that could be outclassed within a decade’s time gives me as well as others pause to consider other viable options still within reach.

Recently, NBC news anchor Lester Holt lent his voice to a new deep-dive video that discusses the improved F-22, dubbed the “Super Raptor“, now taking wing with several USAF squadrons and how it differs from its forerunner. Although outwardly resembling the original F-22, the Super Raptor is packed with all sorts of improvements and enhancements that include advanced avionics, a retrofitted weapons bay capable of handling some of the latest missiles now coming online, and soon external conformal fuel tanks that will extend its range well beyond its intended operating regime, making it a powerful weapons platform capable of conducting a wide array of combat operations, the most notable being air supremacy.

With that, I invite you to watch the accompanying video and take note of the fact that it is not only intended for domestic consumption but for our adversaries too, several of whom may be contemplating turning a cold war hot in the not-too-distant future.

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The Art of War: The Power of Three

As events in the Indo-Pacific region continue to deteriorate, comes news that the US, Japan and South Korea have signed a mutual defense pact that promises to assist one another should any or all of the three nations come under attack. Over the last few years, Russia, the PRC and North Korea have provided increasing cooperation with one another with North Korea even providing munitions to Russia in return for certain technological developments. Defense analysts also point to the PRC for continuing to not only provide encouragement to Russia in their war with Ukraine but certain types of “unnamed” assistance ranging from humanitarian aid to weaponry.

For years, the US has attempted to bring both South Korea and Japan to the bargaining table, pointing to near-term threats in the region as a means of putting aside past differences. These differences go back to World War II, when Japan brutalized South Korea in their campaign to seize the entire Pacific Rim, going so far as to use South Korean civilians as “comfort women” to pacify Japanese soldiers returning from battle. Admittedly its difficult to look beyond war crimes such as these and act as if nothing of consequence occurred over eighty years ago. However, recent moves in and around the region by a belligerent PRC, a nuclear-armed North Korea and aggressive Russia has convinced many that it was time for both countries to take stock of the current situation and take steps to counter these threats should events continue to head south. Other pacts are almost certain to occur, as the US has sought to bring in other nations to defend the Indo-Pacific region should war break out.

The US also acknowledge that they will be upgrading their forces in and around Japan, to both modernize their land, sea and air assets and work in closer cooperation with other allied nations.

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The Art of War: RIMPAC

Lately, we’ve made a lot of hay regarding the recently conducted and now concluded RIMPAC wargaming exercise that was held off of the Hawaiian shores in early July. While it was important to coordinate and demonstrate the joint capabilities and interoperability of 29 partner nations that were led by the US, it was equally vital to test out some of the latest platforms and munitions starting to come online. New stand-off munitions such as the AIM-174b are designed to fight the enemy from afar, keeping our ships and bases out of harm’s way from enemy weapons and subsurface platforms. Other newly deployed weaponry, including the MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone, represent our latest eyes in the sky over a huge battlespace, capable of gathering intelligence, dropping sonobuoys to determine the enemy’s whereabouts, and even engage enemy targets with a package of Joint Strike missiles.

We’ve already discussed the Manta Ray remotely operated submersible in a previous post and other newly developed weapons. These include the LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile), which boast extended range ship-killing capabilities, again designed to be fired from distant stand-off positions to keep our forces out of harm’s way while bringing the battle to the adversary in their own home waters.

If the PRC intends to carry out its threat of seizing Taiwan by force by the year 2027, then the US and its allies will certainly be ready to face them. While Allied forces will enter the fray clear-eyed and ready to accept tangible losses to meet its mission requirements, it is the enemy that will undoubtedly be bloodied by the latest technological advancements being tested and readied for battle.

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