knows all about armor systems, ordnance, vehicle power trains, and command and control networks. By comparison, the Marines have only a few limited areas of technical specialization. These include tilt-rotor aircraft propulsion technology, high-speed water-planing hull designs, and lightweight man-portable anti-armor systems. By taking advantage of other services' technology investments, plus a few key investments of their own, the Marines have become the world's most capable sea soldiers. Remember, though, that the Marines have been on the cutting edge of technology since before World War II. Precision weapons delivery (dive bombing) and vertical envelopment (helicopter warfare) are Marine Corps inventions. Systems like AAAV, the MV-22B Osprey, and the Predator anti- tank rocket may represent the shape of the future for the other services as well.
In reviewing the heavy equipment of the Corps, we'll look closely at only those that are Marine specific. For others, like the M 1A1 Abrams tank and the TOW antitank missile, you can refer to
Personal Equipment and Sustenance
The best personal weapons are of little value to the soldier without food, clothing, navigation equipment, and the like. Many such items used by the Marines are developed in Army laboratories and centers. For this reason, many Marines sometimes feel their requirements are held captive by their 'big brother' the Army. Let's take a look.
Clothing and Sleeping Gear
The dress uniforms of the Marine Corps may be the smartest and best-looking of all the services, but the basic Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), or 'Utilities' as they are known, is nearly identical to what the Army wears. BDUs come in a variety of camouflage patterns, including Woodlands (greens and browns), Desert (beige, brown, and gray), and Urban/Arctic (white, black, and gray), which doubles as a good winter/mountain uniform. BDUs come in various weights, from light knit (a fifty-fifty cotton/nylon rip-stop mix) to quilted high-technology fabrics (Gore-Tex, Supplex, Thermex, and FiberFill) for cold weather. They can be also treated with a waxy substance so that they do not absorb or pass chemical agents onto the skin of the wearer.
Boots are a big problem. Though this situation is changing, the Corps has traditionally had inferior boots for the all-important feet of its Marines. New boots are finally being evaluated and fielded for the Marines. These include the Dannon desert boot, popular in the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991, as well as a new winter /wet boot system designed to keep feet dry in the worst conditions. The helmet is still the Kevlar 'Fritz' design used by the Army, though the first new lightweight Kevlar-29 units are beginning to arrive.
The biggest current challenge for outfitting Marines is clothing for cold- and wet-weather conditions. Historically we associate Marine operations with tropical weather, or more recently, with Middle Eastern deserts, but the Corps has faced arctic missions for over half a century. Since the U.S. occupation of Iceland in 1941, Marines have operated in high latitudes and altitudes. Even today, a Marine brigade's set of equipment is prepositioned in caves around Oslo, Norway, for operations on NATO's northern flank. The Corps is upgrading its mountain and cold-weather equipment, with new pants, parkas, mittens, socks, underwear, and balaclavas (hoods). There is a new four-part sleeping bag system, with inner and outer bags, liner and bivy sack (outer cover), certified for temperatures as low as -40deg F. Along with special cold-weather rations, these make combat operations in alpine regions and cold weather both possible and livable for Marines.
Navigation
In the last few years, navigation has been revolutionized by the NAVISTAR Global Positioning System (GPS). A constellation of twenty-four satellites in medium Earth orbit (about 11,000 mi/17,700 km in altitude) transmits calibrated signals that generate accurate three-dimensional positions. GPS receivers are increasingly portable, rugged, and cheap. Those receivers saw their first military use in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where more than five thousand such systems in aircraft, ships, vehicles, and even handheld units contributed to victory over Iraq. Marines used GPS receivers in aircraft like the F/A-18 Hornet fighter bomber and landing craft like the LCAC, and handheld units in the air-ground liaison control (ANGLICO) teams that controlled artillery fire and airstrikes. GPS gave U.S. forces a major advantage on the battlefield, where knowing the exact time (from the satellite's onboard atomic clocks) and your own position is critical. GPS has emerged as a new kind of public utility, with ever-increasing military and civil applications. While the baseline civilian version is limited to 3-D accuracy of about 100 ft/30.5 m, military GPS signals are accurate to about 9.8 to 16.4 ft/3 to 5 m. Utilizing a code which must be punched into the receiver each day (called P(Y)-code), the military signals have proven so accurate and reliable that guided missiles and bombs can use them for guidance.
Marines have embraced GPS with excitement and anticipation, as systems with embedded GPS arrive in greater numbers each year. Because the Corps is always interested in what technology can do for individual Marines, to make them more dangerous to enemies and safer to themselves, the Marines have worked hard to deliver P(Y)-code man-portable GPS receivers down to the squad level. This is a tough objective, because it requires procuring and fielding tens of thousands of such receivers. There are two current models: the Small, Lightweight GPS Receiver (SLGR, built by Tremble Navigation) and the Portable, Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR, from Rockwell International). The 'Slugger' and 'Plugger' are about the size of portable stereos. Combined with a radio, they enable every Marine (theoretically) to call in artillery and air strikes with accuracy. By the dawn of the new century, every USMC aircraft and vehicle will have a GPS receiver, many of them embedded in navigation and fire-control systems. The eventual goal is to give every Marine an individual GPS navigation capability. General Krulak likes to talk about building a GPS receiver into the butt of every M16, and he is serious about it.
One top priority is a new rescue radio for combat aviators. Current rescue radios assigned to U.S. combat flyers frankly stink. During Desert Storm, by simply direction-finding on their radios, Iraqi forces captured downed pilots before rescue forces could reach them. In the short term, there is a modification of the basic PRC-112 radio, called the Hook-112. The Hook-112 involves the addition of a GPS receiver and a burst transmitter to the basic PRC-112, beaming coordinates to rescue forces without betraying the position of the downed flyer. Further on, there is a system known as the Combat Survival/Evader Locator (CSEL), which will combine a GPS receiver with an almost undetectable satellite terminal into a small, handheld package.
In addition, the Marines will soon deploy a mobile survey system based around a GPS receiver to assist expeditionary units in emplacing artillery sites and other position-critical units. Designed and produced by Trimble Navigation, 40 of these systems have already been bought, with an additional 203 planned for future buys. Trimble is also supplying the Marines with a new generation of super-rugged, P(Y)-code GPS units for use by reconnaissance forces. Called the Miniature Underwater GPS Receiver (MUGR), it is about the size of a Walkman radio. MUGR is fully waterproof, and can actually operate underwater! By using a floating antenna attached by a wire tether, the MUGR allows a reconnaissance force to survey a beach or harbor covertly. These systems represent only the tip of the GPS iceberg. In the near future, expect to see the 'Fritz' Kevlar helmets of American troops sporting flat satellite antennas with the ability to send and receive signals.
