Fewer crew helicopters, more cheap drones swarms. This is only the guidelines listed in a memo note from the defense secretary Pete Hegseth on the scanning changes to the American army.
Hegseth plans a future army in which swarms of drones capable of removing enemies replace equivalent helicopters and increasing the rest of this combat force. But there is much more in the plan.
The Memo of the Secretary of Defense addressed to the Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was shared on Thursday and included strategic transformations, a restructuring of forces and cuts to certain programs and systems. The plan represents one of the largest revisions in the army since the Cold War, and the initiative should cost billions.
Certain planned changes, such as plans to give each division 1,000 drones in the next two years, have clear deadlines and immediate impacts. Others, such as “the modernization of linguistic training programs to improve the efficiency of the mission”, are vague.
Drones, ammunition and Indo-Pacific
Soldiers operating drones during a demonstration of project convergence technology. Army’s term command
Hegseth ordered Driscoll to “transform the army now for the future war”.
Over the next two years, each army division will have non -mixed air systems. Counter-Uas systems should also be integrated into maneuvering platoons by then and maneuvering companies by the following year, 2027.
By 2027, the army should also align long -range missiles which can strike moving land and sea targets. Certain army systems which could adapt to this bill include the surface to surface -to -surface (PRSM), the Typhon Typhon system and the long -range hypersonic weapon.
The service should also reach domination over the electromagnetic spectrum and the air coast areas, which have both been considered critical sub-domains for future wars, and the command and control of artificial intelligence in the headquarters of the theater, the body and the army division.
US military soldiers dismiss a towed bucker of the M777 during shooting exercises in Hawaii. Photo of the American army by SPC. Jessica Scott
Among the directives is a call to “Modernize the organic industrial basis to generate the stocks of ammunition necessary to maintain national defense in wartime”, on a full operation goal by 2028. Driscoll recently told Bi that the strengthening of the industrial defense base and the deepening of the army magazine were a priority for him, in particular when he thought of a possible war with China, an Indo-Pacific Power.
In accordance with this thought, The memo orders the army to strengthen its presence in advance in Indo-Pacific by widening the caches of the equipment to fight against the war of the army, by performing military exercises with allies and partners and turning deployments in the region. President Donald Trump, Hegseth, Driscoll and other officials have all identified China as an absolute priority.
“The president gave us a clear mission: to carry out peace by force,” wrote Hegseth in memo. “To achieve this, the American army must prioritize the defense of our homeland and dissuade China into the Indo-Pacific region.”
The emphasis on the strongly transformation of the army before 2027 raises questions about motivations. Chinese chief Xi Jinping ordered the Chinese people’s liberation army to be ready to execute an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. Although this objective does not mean that the action is guaranteed, the American military officials used the deadline for China as a preparation guide.
‘A leaner and more deadly’ force ‘
Fort Hood’s soldiers are preparing to enter an underground installation in complete protective equipment during dense urban environment training. CAPT. Scott Kuhn / Us Army
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration have highlighted their intention to cut what they consider as unnecessary expenses in the Pentagon. The army memo goes there but always leaves some unanswered questions.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
The Secretary of Defense asks the army to considerably rework its strength structure, which includes the merger of the head office to synchronize kinetic and non -kinetic fires, the implementation of spatial capacities and the adoption of unrelated systems.
As already indicated, HegSeth’s memo also includes a plan aimed at “reducing and restructuring crew attack helicopter training and increasing with cheap drone swarms capable of overwhelming opponents”. It also includes plans to “give obsolete training, including selected armor and aviation units” in the army.
The main reforms are intended for certain general districts of the army, in particular the merger of the command of the future of the army and the command of the doctrine into a single command and the forces and the American army in the north and in the south in a single entity focused on the defense of the fatherland and the Western allies.
In addition, certain weapons systems and capacities deemed obsolete are being suppressed, including certain crew aircraft programs, ground vehicles such as high -mobility, or humvee, and obsolete wheels. Driscoll staff recently told Bi that certain inherited systems could be on the blocking in search of lethality.
The joint training of the Multinational Center for the Multinational of the Pacific of the American Army in Hawaii has tested the capacities of soldiers in conditions for the fight against tropical war. Photo of the American army by the SGT. 1st class Ryele Berto
Reduction of labor is also a priority and corresponds to higher priorities of HegSeth and Trump. The information in the memo on this subject is rare. He calls on the army to “optimize the structure of the force to obtain maximum preparation” and “prioritize the merit and the skills necessary for the battlefield of today through the uniform and civil workforce”.
Revisions of civil hiring and dismissal policies and reductions in general officer posts are provided.
Asked about HegSeth’s priority for an “learner, a more deadly force” and what it means for the workforce, Colonel David Butler, communications advisor to the chief of staff of the army, told BI that the intention was probably to make discounts for “staff and bureaucraties”.
Butler said that the army management considers that the reduction of these areas will reduce the organizational structure and “better serve the warfighter”.
Conversations around a “leaner” army have been a major subject in recent weeks. Earlier this month, sources told Military.com that the army was discreetly considering a reduction of up to 90,000 soldiers in active service. The army labeled the story “badly”, writing on x that it “built more combat power while reducing staff and general costs”.
Difficult decisions for the army
The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visits Fort Bliss, Texas. Photo of the American army by the SGT. 1st class Andrew R. Sveen
Many of these changes indicate radical plans and reforms for the army. Speaking to Fox News on Friday, Driscoll said that even if “they are difficult decisions”, in particular those around inherited systems and arms reform. That said, “the old way to wage war with it is no longer enough,” he said.
The army secretary said that he and the service had been “authorized to make difficult decisions and difficult changes to reassign our dollars to better position our soldiers to be the most deadly they can be”.
businessinsider
