Compass Points - Return on Lethality
How much bang for the buck?
Compass Points - Return on Lethality
How much bang for the buck?
February 15, 2025
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In his very first Message to the Force, Defense Secretary made a list of things he wanted to focus on. The very first one was, 'lethality.'
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All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.
-- Defense Secretary Hegseth
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In some ways lethality is a step above readiness. Readiness asks are current units and equipped ready, but lethality asks are the current units and equipment the right ones to be overwhelmingly deadly? Author T. J. Holland advocates for new ways to measure lethality.
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Current metrics and reporting systems fall short of assessing this vital aspect. Unlike readiness, lethality encompasses a more abstract and multifaceted array of factors.
. . . Lethality is often thought of as the capability and capacity to effectively neutralize or destroy an enemy target, a critical component of combat effectiveness.2 More importantly, it refers to a unit’s ability to defeat adversaries and achieve mission objectives. It encompasses various factors like the capability of weapons, tactics, training, and the overall soldier readiness. Lethality is enabled by formations maneuvering into positions of relative advantage where they can employ weapon systems and mass effects to destroy enemy forces or place them at risk of destruction. According to Field Manual 3-0, Operations, “The speed, range, and accuracy of weapon systems employed by a formation enhance its lethality.”3 In simple terms, it’s about how well a unit can carry out its mission and neutralize threats during combat.
-- Military Review
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More simply, in Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations (Washington, DC: U.S. GPO, October 2022), Glossary-9, the Army defines lethality as “the capability and capacity to destroy.”
One example of increasing lethality could be the recent announcement by the Navy. The Navy has successfully fired a HELIOS laser weapon onboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Preble and successfully destroyed an aerial drone. Now, researchers at the Naval Post Graduate School are finding ways to use AI to speed up the targeting and firing of laser weapons. Even hypersonic missiles cannot fly faster than laser light.
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MONTEREY, Calif.-- Lasers enable the U.S. Navy to fight at the speed of light. Armed with artificial intelligence (AI), ship defensive laser systems can make rapid, accurate targeting assessments necessary for today’s complex and fast-paced operating environment where drones have become an increasing threat.
-- NPS
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Secretary Hegseth wants a renewed focus on lethality. At the same time, Elon Musk and DOGE are coming to the Pentagon with their own business and financial focus: ROI - Return on Investment. Perhaps ROI, and lethality are not so different. Increasing the ROI as well as increasing the ROL - Return on Lethality, both are focusing on the same thing: more bang for the buck.
The Marine Corps has spent the last five years changing the focus of the Corps from offense, to defense; from a global force, to a regional force; from a combined arms force capable across the range of military operations, to a limited missile force. The change in focus from a 9-1-1, combined arms, crisis response force, to isolated island missile units, has decreased the lethality of the Marine Corps. Decreasing the lethality of the Marine Corps makes the entire US military weaker and makes the Nation less safe in a dangerous world.
Compass Points salutes Secretary Hegseth for his renewed focus on lethality and appreciates all those throughout the DOD and Congress helping the Marine Corps to focus once again on the restored and enhanced, combined arms, crisis response Marine MAGTF -- which is always global and always lethal.
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US Department of Defense - 01/25/2025
Secretary Hegseth's Message to the Force
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Military Review - October 2024
Decoding Lethality - Measuring What Matters
Command Sgt. Maj. T. J. Holland, U.S. Army
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NPS - 02/12/2025
NPS Develops AI Solution to Automate Drone Defense with High Energy Lasers
By Dan Linehan
Excellent article here! SecDef must immediately provide both an investigation and oversight of the current FD2030 colossal failure, and upon the obvious discovery of the FAILURE to be able or equipped to fulfill our Title X missions, he should immediately move to fire and replace the current CMC Gen Smith and his fellow cohorts. Then have the SecNav implement and oversee VISION2035 to restore our Corps' MAGTF lethality and capabilities!