Let’s speculatively discuss Marine Corps’ unmanned ground vehicles’ (UGVs) weapons configurations. While each UGV has its own unique features and capabilities to separate them, one common area that UGVs in testing share is the CROWS II remote armament system. The Marine Corps will need a higher level of guided firepower to meet future challenges than unguided 40-mm grenades and 12.7-mm and 7.62-mm bullets.
With the Marine Corps’ divestment of all M1A1 Abrams heavy main battle tanks (MBTs) and their 120-mm cannon, 7.62-mm COAX medium machine gun, .50-cal M2HB heavy machine gun, and 7.62-mm loader’s medium machine gun (40 120-mm rounds and around 12,000 bullets per M1A1 tank), the Corps is pressed to field lighter (and more numerous) direct-fire vehicles to remedy the firepower shortfall. Granted, the goal is not to go head-to-head with enemy heavy armor, pitting UGVs against enemy MBTs, but to multifunctionally deal with various threats: enemy infantry, bunkers, fortifications, light armor, rotorcraft, and other battlefield threats other than enemy MBTs. Usually, Marines carry heavy handheld weapons to deal with these threats, but UGVs’ cargo-carry capabilities greatly enhances the Marine Corps’ ability to counter these lesser threats and takes the load off the “boot Marine.”
For years, the Army and the Marine Corps have tested remote and autonomous UGVs in various environments. Lately, these UGVs have been armed with heavy weapons that ordinary soldiers and Marines typically cannot carry solo—heavy weapons such as the .50-cal M2HB heavy machine gun with the Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) as coaxial, the 30-mm autocannon, the Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher, and the M240 medium machine gun. While appreciated by U.S. troops on the modern battlefield for their added heavy firepower and ability to carry cargo and gear that normally would go on a soldier’s or Marine’s back, these UGVs, whether tracked or wheeled, share one thing in common—their weapons outfit normally looks the same, respectively (as mentioned above). Yet, there are a few UGVs that stand out because of their unique armament and configuration and are worthy of extra consideration and should be further developed and rapidly acquired by the Marine Corps ASAP.
When it comes to UGV weapons configurations, the Pratt Miller and QinetiQ’s Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV), armed with a .50 caliber heavy machine gun, is no different in armament than some other UGVs, respectively, but the Project Convergence 20 MUTT has a ATGM and more useful features than just being a cargo UGV. U.S. Army (Luke J. Allen)
The Textron M5 RIPSAW also sports a FLIR turret and CROWS II with .50 caliber heavy machine gun like the EMAV. While each UGV is unique in capability, the USMC should focus on UGVs that have unique armament configurations for near-term acquisitions. U.S. Army (Luke J. Allen)
There are many UGVs in various (armament) configurations, but for the sake of this Blog, we’ll examine two: the General Dynamics Land System’s Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) and the Polaris MRZR, because these UGVs can be configured to have weapons that the other UGVs do not mount (yet). Both the MUTT and MRZR are V-22 transportable and will fit inside USMC CH-53 helicopters.
Marine Commandant General David Berger’s Marine stand-in forces (SIF) concept requires weapon systems with deterrence value and ranged-attack, and yet with a footprint and logistics tail that does not require constant attention and concern as to the welfare of the system, crew, value, and operational maintenance. And this philosophy rings true for any Marine SIF deployed anywhere in the world. The MUTT and MRZR will fit the Marine Corps SIF concept for lighter threats and rapid deployability.
The Modern War Institute’s December 2021 podcast “The Urban Warfare Project’s Christmas Wish List” has a speaker that said: “I want a cheap, expendable robotic smoke emitter, maybe air-droppable. And I want breathable smoke. I want to blanket the urban environment with a dense smoke cloud that only those with the capability can see through. I want multiple smoke emitters with breathable smoke.” The Army’s Project Convergence 20 MUTT configuration has a smoke generator, CROWS II-Javelin with day and thermal sights with weapons, and an unmanned aerial system (UAS). Project Convergence 20’s MUTT fits the Marine Corps’ bill for urban operations; SIF; smokescreens; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); and smaller, lighter, and more mobile platforms for distributed lethality with close and ranged attack.
During Project Convergence 20, September 2020, the Army Futures Command’s capstone exercise of an ambitious project of learning, multiple examples of the most cutting-edge military technology were put through their paces on Yuma Proving Ground’s (YPG) vast ranges. One of the most rugged was the Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT), an 8×8 unmanned all-terrain vehicle that will follow a dismounted infantry soldier carrying a wireless tether. In addition to its usefulness for lugging heavy gear, or even wounded Soldiers, an armed variant is outfitted with a Javelin anti-tank missile, a .50 caliber machine gun, and a M4 rifle. [Author’s Note: This should be the MUTT that the USMC should acquire, whether tracked or wheeled, due to its multifunction Force Multiplication features]. U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
Soldiers of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division explain the capabilities of the multipurpose unmanned tactical transport (MUTT) fitted with an 60-mm mortar to Brigadier General Terrence McKenrick, commanding general of the Brigade Modernization Command. U.S. Army
The Marine Corps currently lacks a dedicated mobile vehicle to transport a mortar at the squad or platoon-level. Sure, the mortar can hitch rides on any Marine Corps vehicle, but often that means dismounting the mortar for firing. The MUTT with 60-mm mortar remedies this by assigning a UGV specifically to transport and fire the mortar, complete with some on-board ammunition.
The Polaris MRZR with fold-down rollcage will fit inside the V-22 and can have guided weapons and sensors added to the rollcage once disembarked from the rotorcraft. The MRZR can be modified with a forward-looking infra-red turret ball and the PD-100 Black Hornet micro rotary drones while a four-shot 2.75-inch Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) provides a long-distance guided warhead punch. The APKWS is slated to get upgrades to extend its range by 30 percent over the APKWS’s standard 1.5–5 kilometers (0.9 to 3.1 miles) range.
The MRZR’s rollcage crossbeam mount hypothetically could add two Stinger short-ranged Air Defense System (SHORADS) missiles in a twin rack mount with the Interrogate Friend-Foe antennas on the crossbeam or the mount. Such a MRZR would provide Marine Corps SIFs with an autonomous compact-wheeled SHORAD vehicle where two Stingers, each weighing 34.5 pounds, that are not carried and fired by foot.
A two-seat MRZR with 2.75-inch APKWS four-shot rocket pod and gray FLIR sensor ball can act as a huge single UGV deterrent against light armor, drones, small boats, vehicles, and rotorcraft. Four PD-100 Black Hornet micro UAS drones are in the green bumper box launcher. Adding swing-arm mounts for M240 machine guns and Javelin ATGMs in the cargo bed can provide even more firepower for Marine Corps stand-in forces. This is the low-cost V-22 transportable UGV configuration that the Corps should acquire as a well-balanced, fast, mobile, light, rapid-deployable ISR, strike, and defensive aid unmanned vehicle that can also be expendable. U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
To reiterate, each UGV under test and review has its own unique capabilities, specialties, and features, but looking at the current Marine Corps arsenal and inventory, CROWS II and 30-mm cannon should not dictate nor dominate UGV armament. The Marine Corps will need UGVs that expand its repertoire of missions in logistics, recon, rescue, attack and defense, SIF, camouflage, area denial, and deterrence at longer ranges. The MUTT and MRZR with these weapons configurations of guns to ATGMs to guided rockets to mortars to Stinger SHORADs will fulfill these requirements for direct- and area-fire active denial at ranges exceeding just guns.
