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00:01Unavailable and outdated.
00:03What a government watchdog has to say about combat vehicles in the American arsenal.
00:08Plus, more potential problems in the Pacific.
00:11Why America's near-peer adversaries are teaming up for a confrontation.
00:16And a drone swarm swatted.
00:19See how an American company is paving the way forward in counter-drone defense.
00:24Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare, a show made for people who want to know more about our national defense.
00:34Our mission is to arm you with information about America's warfighters and what they're doing to keep you safe.
00:41For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson.
00:44And we start this week with a look inside the Air Force's Air Mobility Command
00:49and how its leadership is navigating budget constraints, aging aircraft, and an ever-changing list of potential threats.
01:01Fresh off several successful efforts in the Middle East, AMC's commander, General John LeMontagne,
01:07met with the media in a roundtable session at the AFA's Airspace and Cyber 2025 event.
01:14Despite those wins, though, he made it clear he's under no illusion about what it will take to build on that success going forward.
01:23If you look at what we just did, whether it was facilitating the B2s going out to Yemen
01:28or the B2s hitting Iran, a relatively safe environment, all things being equal.
01:35But that's not what we're going to be expected to do in the future.
01:39So we've got to be able to go into much higher threat environments.
01:42A little more than a year ago, LeMontagne took command of AMC's nearly 600 aircraft.
01:47It is my pleasure to introduce the 16th commander of Air Mobility Command, General Johnny LeMontagne.
01:55Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is great to be back in Air Mobility Command.
02:01Primarily responsible for carrying out the DOD's needs for airlift and air refueling.
02:07On the airlift side of the equation, the general says he wants AMC in a position to transition seamlessly from the C5 and C17 to the next generation of heavy lifters.
02:20The C17 and C5 have served us well for decades, but they're not going to fly forever.
02:26And so we'd like to recapitalize those on our timeline.
02:30You know, we've got a competition already going, a source selection, driving that towards the mid 2040 timeline.
02:37It's basically a two for one to replace both the C17 and the C5.
02:42LeMontagne envisions a new airlifter that has the right defensive systems, is tactically agile and easier to service.
02:50We're obviously a lot of risk on the ground, sitting on the ground somewhere, so don't want to sit on the ground for three hours if we could refuel in a lot faster timeline than that.
03:00Not that it takes three hours to refuel a C17, but, you know, three minutes would be better than 30 minutes.
03:09Speaking of fueling, AMC got a dose of good news this past July when Chief of Staff General David Alvin announced the plan to buy an additional 75 KC-46 Pegasus aerial refuelers from Boeing.
03:23That would eliminate the need for a bridge tanker to replace the aging KC-135 fleet, but they will not be saying goodbye to the strato tanker anytime soon.
03:34We will be flying the KC-135 into the 2050s, and so that is a long time to maintain a legacy platform.
03:43Of course, it's not the same KC-135 that came into the inventory in the 1950s, and, you know, as we sit here today, we don't want it to be the same platform in the 2050s or 2060s, however long we're going to need to fly it.
03:58Of course, time is a commodity, something General Alvin made clear in his keynote address to the troops.
04:05Last time I checked, our mission says fly, fight and win air power anytime, anywhere.
04:11So if you want to know what the pace is, that's the pace.
04:15We have to move out the pace to win. If we're not getting there, then we need to find another gear.
04:20When we asked General LaMontagne if these plans fit within that mindset, he pointed to two hurdles AMC needs to navigate to deliver on that mission statement.
04:30Equipping his fleet with cutting edge sensors to operate in a contested environment and the ability to defend against potential threats.
04:39The first step is being able to sense and make sense of the environment. If you can't make sense of the threat environment, you got no chance.
04:46That's what we're trying to do on connectivity and that money starting to flow.
04:50And then the next step is having defensive systems or an ability to actually defend the team.
04:55For that, the General says there are two options.
04:58Having someone else provide those defensive capabilities like a fighter escort or an onboard solution so his crews can defend themselves.
05:08We're trying to get to a place where we don't need somebody else to do it for us and we can bring a lot more capability to the joint force in a deep, much deeper threat environment.
05:19As for how they'll get that done, LaMontagne says all options are on the table.
05:25All right, I'm joined now by senior producer and Air Force veteran Brett Baker for some headlines you may have missed.
05:32And Brett, here's a headline. We have a lot of content that we're working on right now, kind of in the background.
05:37Should we give folks kind of a sneak peek of that?
05:41I'll defer to you on that one. I mean, they know we were in Ukraine, so obviously we're going to be bringing some stories back from there.
05:48But yeah, I'll defer to you on that one.
05:51Yeah, so we have some Ukraine stories, both from the defense expo that we went to, and we also went around Lviv and gathered some stuff, but we're putting together some stuff for straight arrow.
06:02So if you're a fan of the show, also be a fan of straight arrow news as our umbrella organization, because we have some good content coming that way.
06:11But we also were at the AFA's airspace and cyber event.
06:15We're getting ready to head to a USA.
06:17So over the next couple of weeks, folks, we might do a little bit of a pullback on some of the content we're putting out.
06:24But that's just because we're working on some really great content in the background that we, you know, want you to see.
06:30So, all right, that's enough of the behind the scenes stuff.
06:33Let's go ahead and take a look at those headlines.
06:36So there's this government watchdog saying 80% of the Army and Marines combat vehicles aren't actually ready for combat.
06:46The Government Accountability Office revealed in a new report some significant readiness issues in the motor pool.
06:53Get this, Brett.
06:54Of the 18 Army combat and support vehicles that were analyzed, 16 were non-mission capable because of either part shortages or a decline in qualified maintainers.
07:06The Marine Corps is facing similar challenges with five of its seven vehicles tested showing decreased readiness.
07:13The investigation lasted from 2015 to 2024 and showed as maintenance demands were going up, repairs and overhauls were going down,
07:22impacting operational availability.
07:25Brett, you go to war with the force that you have, not the force that you want.
07:29And imagine this is good news for the Indo-PACOM commanders.
07:34Certainly it is not.
07:36It would seem to be the worst version of the perfect storm when you can't get the parts you need.
07:42And even if you were to get those parts, you might not have enough maintainers to put them to good use and get those vehicles back up and rolling.
07:51But it's just kind of another sign of where I think the DOD is in a lot of places with budget constraints and manning.
08:03It could, you know, I hope it's a one off.
08:06I don't think it's a one off, but you would you would like to think that this is not a trend of things to come.
08:12Absolutely, because if I mean, if this is a trend and more more of your vehicles don't work than do work, how battle effective can you really be?
08:24So, yeah, to your point, hope it's hope it's a one off.
08:28Doesn't sound like it is, but hopefully the Department of Defense can figure it all out.
08:33All right.
08:35So speaking of the Pacific, a recent article in Defense News details how some British analysts found evidence that Russia is supplying military equipment and technology to China, potentially aiding preparations for an invasion of Taiwan.
08:51The Royal United Services Institute based its findings on some leaked Russian documents that outlined contracts and equipment, including high altitude parachute systems and some other amphibious assault vehicles.
09:05Those analysts believe that this support could enhance China's airborne capabilities by 10 to 15 years and improve its command training for parachute forces.
09:16And while the contracts may be in place, Brett, my question is, will the Kremlin be able to keep up with those contract demands given the war with Ukraine is draining a lot of resources for Moscow?
09:28Yeah, I think my initial reaction to reading this story was they have stuff to to give away or to deal away and barter with.
09:36Yeah, it's interesting given the pinch that Russia is in and that China is not in.
09:42They've got all the money in the world.
09:44They've got all the manpower in the world.
09:47So it is an interesting arrangement.
09:49I certainly think that, you know, there's part of it that just to, you know, yank Uncle Sam's chain and get him talking about it.
09:58But it doesn't seem like this would be a sustainable thing for the Russians, given their current situation in Ukraine.
10:05Yeah, I mean, we did a story a few months ago.
10:07Now, at this point, Russia was using donkeys to supply their front lines, which, you know, some terrains that might be better than, you know, getting your vehicle stuck in the mud.
10:18But no army wants to go to war with donkeys in their logistics line.
10:22I kind of think that this might be more like Russia might be giving some pieces of equipment as like demonstrators.
10:29You know, like here's here's an amphibious assault vehicle.
10:33China, copy it, go build a bunch and give us some money so that we can, you know, keep fighting Ukraine.
10:39That's kind of how I see this.
10:40Not really sure how it's all going to play out to your point.
10:43And finally, a piece of video you have to watch a couple of times to really appreciate what's happening.
10:51At first glance, it looks like it's on pause, but it's not.
10:55It's an eight second clip of 49 drones dying simultaneously and falling right out of the sky.
11:02The clip is from our friends over at Epirus showing the results of a recent live fire demonstration where their Leonidas platform was 100% successful against a 49 drone swarm consisting of two different drone types,
11:15all with one instant and low collateral pulse of electromagnetic interference.
11:21And in honor of Leonidas, which is named after the Spartan king, let me just say, this is awesome.
11:32Nicely done.
11:33I see that.
11:34No, the first time I saw the clip, our editor shared it in our Slack channel.
11:38And I'm like, what am I?
11:39What am I looking at?
11:40It looked like it was on pause.
11:42But then all of a sudden you see 49 drones just drop out of the sky.
11:48Anyway, this isn't new.
11:49We've seen Leonidas work in ones and twos and threes and fours.
11:54But at this scale at 49, that's a different ballgame.
11:59So definitely is an impressive test to be sure.
12:02And I think one that, you know, troops who are on the ground have to appreciate that, hey, we're heading in the right direction on this.
12:10Absolutely.
12:11On the ground and at sea.
12:12We know that Leonidas has some maritime applications as well.
12:15Um, it's, it's a software defined, uh, pulse is what they call it.
12:22So, uh, they can do, you know, swarms at a time, but they could also kind of narrow it down and do certain frequencies or kind of point it at certain drones.
12:32Um, so that, you know, when you do a giant swath pulse, you're going to knock down your own stuff too.
12:38Right.
12:39So if you can put your frequency stuff at a little bit different frequency than, than your enemy stuff, then the idea is, you know, potentially your stuff can keep flying while their stuff falls down.
12:49Uh, so yeah, good job to the folks at Epirus for sure.
12:53Uh, anytime I get to make a Spartans, uh, 300 quote, I think it's a good story.
12:58Well, you're welcome.
13:01Cause I picked that one.
13:05Unmanned aerial vehicles have really kind of changed the game on the battlefield, but the new iteration of those are going to be bombers, right?
13:12So to hear, talk to me a little bit more about that is Danilo Pavlichenko.
13:16Did I say that right?
13:17Yes.
13:18Awesome.
13:18And you're with a company called Jet.
13:20So talk to me about this bomber that we have right here.
13:22Uh, the bomber is our new initiative that we have, uh, created ourselves because we have our own R&D.
13:29Uh, it is a solution that provides, uh, up to 20 kilograms of payload capacity.
13:36Uh, it can fly technically up to 60 kilometers without the payload.
13:42With the payload, it is oriented for 15 kilometers one way and back.
13:46Uh, and it's something that is, uh, well used on the battlefield and it's, it's a game changer basically.
13:53It's something that is very reliable in, uh, in usage.
13:57Is it remote control?
13:58Is there any AI component to it?
14:00Uh, no AI component remote control.
14:02Do we have our, uh, ground control stations that come with it?
14:06Uh, we, uh, use, uh, SINELINK and other, uh, modules for, uh, the connection.
14:16And it's fully controlled, uh, the whole station has to be controlled by two people for its usage.
14:22Okay.
14:23You also have some other products behind you here, some more FPV drones.
14:27One of them that caught my eye is this one right here with the fiber optic cable on the back of it.
14:31Fiber optic is unjammable and that's, everyone's kind of saying this is the wave of the future.
14:35What do you think?
14:36Uh, it definitely is.
14:38And if you look at the battlefields of Ukraine, everything is filled with fiber optic.
14:42It's obviously for a reason because with, uh, the electronic warfare that we have to fight,
14:47uh, this is definitely the way to go.
14:49Uh, what we represent, we have, uh, fiber optic on a frame of, uh, 10 inch and 13 inch flying, uh, 15 to 20 kilometers.
14:58Uh, we're also representing, uh, starting to create, uh, other modifications in the future to make it go in further.
15:05Uh, we also have represented, uh, Jet 10 LR, which is for long range.
15:12Uh, it can fly for 40 kilometers plus carrying up to, uh, one kilogram of payload.
15:19And what are you hoping to get from this, you know, this show, right?
15:23Because I know that you don't necessarily have contracts yet.
15:25You're hoping to sign some?
15:26Uh, we do have contracts.
15:28Okay, great.
15:28Uh, we work directly, uh, with the different military units, uh, a lot of organizations, uh, just a way to show up a portion of us, uh, our heart and what we do, uh, get new, uh, relationships going, uh, collaborations with other companies and to progress and put roots into other places as well.
15:52All right.
15:52Thank you so much for joining us today.
15:54Really appreciate it.
15:54All right, folks, for comms check this week, we are checking in with the good folks at JobsOhio.
16:02And here to talk a little bit more about that is JP Nassif with JobsOhio.
16:06Thank you so much for joining us today, JP.
16:07Oh, thank you for having me.
16:08So the last time we talked to you, the big news was Arsenal.
16:11One had just been announced by Anderil.
16:13Obviously that is not the last, uh, thing that JobsOhio has brought into your state.
16:18So kind of talk a little bit more about some of those projects.
16:20Well, you know, we're really focused on advanced, uh, aerospace and defense industry.
16:24That's why we're here at the Air Force Association.
16:26It's really turned into quite a trade show.
16:29Uh, the environment is changing very, very fast.
16:32And how the Department of War, Department of Defense, acquires weapon systems, uh, Anderil
16:37and the Arsenal program is a great example of that.
16:40And so with our heritage in Ohio of, uh, aviation, going dating back to the Wright brothers,
16:45uh, and our heritage in space, you know, Neil Armstrong's from here.
16:48We have NASA Glenn and NASA, NASA Armstrong.
16:50We're really focused on, uh, this, uh, sector.
16:53It's a trillion, multi-trillion dollar economic opportunity, uh, and we've got the workforce
16:59and the facilities, uh, and the diversity of our industry sectors, uh, to, to build a
17:04base here, basis for that in Ohio.
17:06And that's what we're doing.
17:07So, uh, Anderil is busy implementing, uh, their factory, massive factory in central Ohio.
17:13Uh, we've got Joby Aviation, uh, building, uh, eVTOLs, uh, and comm systems, uh, close to
17:20Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio, Sierra Nevada, modifying aviation and airframe systems and
17:26doing maintenance on an airport, an airfield in, uh, Dayton, Ohio near Wright-Patterson.
17:31And I think what we're finding is the intersection of where the customer, this large customer at
17:37Wright-Patterson Air, Air Force Base intersects with this amazing, uh, heavyweight manufacturing
17:43capability, number three in the nation, uh, the number one most productive workforce and
17:48labor force in the Midwest and the confluence of those things.
17:52And then when you combine affordability of the workforce, uh, uh, higher, uh, education
17:58institutions that can, uh, up-skill and train and produce the workforce, the confluence
18:02of all those things, uh, becomes a very powerful value proposition, uh, and it all goes to what's
18:08important for the country, uh, and making sure that, uh, America has the systems it needs
18:13to deter aggression from our adversaries and make sure the men and women that serve, uh,
18:19and their families have the best they can have at an efficient and effective, uh, cost basis
18:25for the American taxpayer. And that's what Ohio has to offer.
18:27You bet.
18:28A lot of states in the Midwest are experiencing called, you know, the brain drain right now.
18:32Uh, does Ohio have that? Or because of all these industries, are you able to kind of counteract
18:37that where other states brain drain is your brain gain kind of thing?
18:41Well, it's an interesting phenomenon, right? You know, back at the World War II era, the
18:46Midwest, Ohio was the center of the industrial age. And then after World War II, transportation
18:52technologies, the interstate highway system, air conditioning gets invented, people migrate
18:57south and west, trade agreements take our industry base south of the border, over oceans.
19:04You know, we all know what happened and what's happening now. And you can see it, uh, those
19:09great states on the coast, which I used to live in California, uh, had a place in New
19:13York for quite a while. Those are wonderful states, but, uh, they've become a victim of
19:17their success and everything they have. That's great. And people are actually fleeing those
19:21states now. So, uh, you know, after decades of out migration of population and brain drain
19:26as you call it, uh, we've got the first net positive population in migration to our state
19:33of the eighties between 2019 and 2024. Uh, we had significant population in migration,
19:3985% of the people that came back or came to Ohio, uh, we're coming seeking one of those
19:44new jobs. And so, uh, you know, it's good. We're, we, we're not back to where we want
19:49to be, but we're definitely on our path and leadership in this sector. So important to our
19:54heritage, important to the country, the people in Ohio care about it. And we've got capability
19:58that these industries need. Uh, we're on our way to, uh, to leadership in this sector for
20:03sure. JP, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate your time. Thank
20:06you for your time. Thank you very much.
20:11All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors.
20:15All right, folks, for my wrap this week, I'm going to talk about something I know is going
20:20to make some of you mad. The U S government deploying the national guard and other troops to
20:25American cities, but before you get angry and go off on me in the comment section, please
20:30hear me out first. Since taking office, president Trump deployed the guard to several American
20:35cities with the mission of protecting federal workers and facilities that is within his scope
20:42of power as the head of our nation's executive branch, just like it's within the scope of power
20:48for federal district judges to put temporary holds on presidential orders to make sure there isn't
20:55an abuse of power. If you've been paying attention, you know, over the course of the last several
21:01weeks, president Trump and his administration toyed with the idea of expanding the troop deployments
21:07even further. The Minnesota star tribune reported Anthony Salisbury, a top deputy to white house
21:14official, Stephen Miller was even caught using the signal messaging app in public to talk about
21:20sending the 82nd airborne to Portland. President Trump himself talked about using American cities
21:27as training grounds for the U S military. When a Trump appointed judge put a hold on the president's
21:33plan to federalize the Oregon national guard and send it to Portland, the president tried to go
21:39around the order by sending in guard members from California and Texas, a move which judge Karen
21:46immigrant also blocked. But the judge's decisions do not represent a legal insurrection. As white
21:53house aide, Stephen Miller put it, they represent our separate, but equal branches of government
21:59performing their constitutionally mandated duties. And this all comes after another district judge in
22:06California ruled that the June deployment of guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles was in fact
22:13illegal. The judge said the administration's actions represented a clear and willful violation of the
22:20Posse Comitatus Act because the military was being used to perform law enforcement duties. I hope we can all
22:29agree as Americans that ours is a nation of laws that upholding those laws and abiding by them are
22:38important because that's what holds our society together. That's what keeps our Republic intact.
22:45And that's going to do it for us this week on weapons and warfare. As always, if you like what you saw
22:50and or heard, please like, and subscribe to our social media feeds and download the straighter news app
22:56today. Like Brett and I were saying earlier, we have a pretty big backlog of content to roll out from
23:03Ukraine and a couple of defense expos in DC. So keep an eye out for all of those stories headed your
23:08way. In the meantime, for senior producer, Brett Baker, video editor, Brian Spencer and motion artist
23:14Dakota Patio. I'm Ryan Robertson for straight arrow news signing off.
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