Compass Points - XQ-58A Valkyrie
Add capabilities, do not subtract them.
Compass Points - XQ-58A Valkyrie
Add capabilities, do not subtract them.
October 6, 2023
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What is the difference between the XQ-58A Valkyrie and a Marine littoral regiment? One is an experimental drone. The other is an experimental regiment.
The Marine Corps is testing an advanced drone, the XQ-58A Valkyrie. The Marine Corps has a proud history of experimentation and innovation. The Marine Corps is always working to make itself stronger by upgrading units, methods, and equipment.
As important as experimentation is -- and it is important -- experimentation must be conducted prudently and thoughtfully. The Marine Corps must never throw away proven units, methods, and equipment before an experiment proves itself.
Just a few days ago, October 3, 2023, the Marine XQ-58 had its first experimental flight.
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According to Kratos, the XQ-58, with its 30-foot overall length and 27-foot wingspan, has a maximum range of around 3,000 miles and a maximum launch weight of 6,500 pounds (including up to 600 pounds in its internal payload bay and/or another 600 pounds under the wings). It has a subsonic cruising speed of Mach 0.72 and can hit an absolute top speed of around Mach 0.85.
"This XQ-58A test flight and the data collected ... not only help to inform future requirements for the Marine Corps," Scott Bey, a prototyping and experimentation portfolio manager at OUSD(R&E), said in a statement about the October 3 sortie. “It fuels continued joint innovation and experimentation opportunities and demonstrates the agility that can be achieved through partnership.”
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Experimenting with a new, advanced drone is good -- it is good, as long as the Marine Corps is not required to give up too much.
How many proven capabilities did the Marine Corps have to give up to experiment with the XQ-58A? The Marine Corps did not have to give up anything. Except for a little money and a little time, the XQ-58 does not take away any proven capabilities. Experimenting with the XQ-58 adds to the Marine Corps. It takes nothing away.
While every experiment should add to the Marine Corps, not every experiment does. Sometimes experiments cost too much.
Reporter Megan Eckstein in her article for Defense News, "First-of-kind Marine littoral regiment plays with new concepts, weapons" described the creation of the first experimental Marine littoral regiment.
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The service this spring formally transformed 3rd Marine Regiment into 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, which will be organized and equipped in new and modern ways.
. . . Additionally, he said, the littoral anti-air battalion brings capabilities that an infantry regiment has never had: ground-based air defense using the Marine Air Defense Integrated System and the Medium Range Intercept Capability, air surveillance and early warning, the ability to track the direction of incoming fires, and establishing forward arming and refueling points for other Marine or joint force aircraft.
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Unfortunately, the experimental littoral regiment does not have the capabilities that are claimed for it. To cite only one of many examples, it is claimed that the new littoral regiment can provide "forward arming and refueling points" throughout the Pacific. Not only is no littoral regiment providing a general purpose FARP in the Pacific, it is virtually impossible for one ever to do so.
A previous Compass Points post, "The Long Pole is Logistics" of January 6, 2023, cites author and Marine Major Daniel Katzman, who has detailed the unsustainable logistics of Marine stand-in-forces distributed across the Pacific.
In addition to the capabilities the experimental littoral regiments do not have, the adoption of the experimental units has led to proven and needed capabilities not only being subtracted from certain Marine infantry regiments but from the entire Marine Corps.
Whatever missions the littoral regiments were envisioned to accomplish, they could have been performed by making additions to existing Marine regiments. Experiments should add to Marine capabilities, not subtract from them.
The first step to limiting the damage already done by the littoral regiment experiment is to designate no more littoral regiments. As unnecessarily costly as the experiment has been so far, the Marine Corps cannot afford to continue to lose current capabilities betting on weapons and equipment that may never arrive.
The world is a dangerous place today. The Nation needs a fully equipped, fully ready, and fully combined arms capable Marine Corps.
What is the difference between the experimental XQ-58A Valkyrie and an experimental littoral regiment? The XQ-58 experiment may someday add to Marine combined arms capabilities and subtracts nothing today. The littoral regiment experiment has already subtracted too much from needed capabilities.
Compass Points salutes the experiment of the Marine XQ-58. On the other hand, the experimental littoral regiment has already proved far too costly to current Marine capabilities. Neither the Marine Corps nor the Nation can afford more littoral regiments. It is past time to stop the damage caused by the littoral regiment and embark on a program of rebuilding the combined arms units, equipment, and capabilities that Marines will need when the next battle arrives.
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The War Zone - 10/05/2023
XQ-58 Valkyrie Is Now Flying With The Marine Corps
Marine tests of XQ-58s as reconnaissance, electronic warfare and loyal wingmen platforms, will inform the service’s future drone ambitions.
By Joseph Trevithick
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/xq-58-valkyrie-is-now-flying-with-the-marine-corps
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Defense News (defensenews.com) 05/12/2022
First-of-kind Marine littoral regiment plays with new concepts, weapons
By Megan Eckstein
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Force Design 2030 – The Long-Pole is Logistics
Rediscovering the Power of the MAGTF
January 6, 2023
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/force-design-2030-the-long-pole-is
Do cowards suffer a hideous death at her hands?