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00:00Live fire exercises in the Caribbean. What we know about the Marines mission there.
00:06Plus Anduril opens a ghost shark factory. What this new facility down under could mean for the
00:12US military. And a low tech solution to a high tech problem. How Ukrainians are slowing down
00:19the drone threats from Russia. Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare. From your morning
00:29coffee stop to the dinner table, our goal is to give you the ability to have an informed conversation
00:36about what's happening with our nation's military. For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host,
00:39Ryan Robertson. And we start this week with the future leaders of the US Army, the cadets at the
00:45US Military Academy. Every summer for two weeks, the seniors at West Point head out to the field for an
00:51exercise called cadet leadership development training or CLDT. It's there where they get their
00:59first taste of what it's like to operate in the field.
01:05From the day they take the oath of allegiance as freshmen,
01:09that I will maintain and defend
01:14the sovereignty of the United States
01:19to the day they graduate as commissioned officers.
01:22All roads at West Point lead to this CLDT, cadet leadership development training,
01:45a two week program that represents the peak of a cadets military training. This is where cadets assume
01:51leadership positions in realistic situations to improve and evaluate their tactical leadership
01:58and decision making abilities. It's the last real tactical development you're going to get before you
02:03go into the army. And so it's both kind of a reality check to know where you're at physically,
02:10mentally, but that's also a good training exercise. This is where cadets begin to build their skills as
02:16skills as warriors as warriors and leaders, giving them the opportunity to lead teams, squads and platoons in scenarios that replicate combat.
02:24CLDT is
02:26one of the first details where everything you're doing depends on someone else. Like your grade and how you perform
02:38is wholly dependent on what they're doing. If they're doing their job right, if they're keeping security,
02:45if they're working hard or giving their best performance, everything depends on somebody else.
02:52And that's truly unique because it doesn't really happen often. During the two weeks of CLDT,
02:58cadets engage in an array of activities. So things like land navigation, rifle marksmanship and first aid,
03:06just to name a few. I think for me, the toughest part of CLDT is learning how to navigate all your tasks
03:11with only a few hours of sleep. The physical aspect, you can always train physically, but most of the time
03:17you're giving your body proper rest and nutrition will take all that aspect out. And it's a little bit
03:23more difficult to be able to think clearly. The training also serves as a crucial evaluation of a cadets
03:29leadership readiness, assessing their ability to make rapid decisions and convey orders
03:35effectively, all while under physical duress. There's a lot of emphasis on kind of the physical
03:40aspect of it, of carrying heavy weight and going long distances. But it's really the mental kind of
03:47fortitude that you build from those experiences that really stays with you. So I think that that is
03:53what builds our lethality, right? When you're physically degraded, when you're carrying heavy gear and
03:58when you still have to perform a mission set that you can have the mental clarity to actually succeed
04:04and focus on what you have to do. And I think CLDT does that to a T. Every scenario the cadets are put
04:09through is designed to mimic a real world threat, challenging the cadets ability to adapt and overcome
04:16obstacles while under stress. Everyone here has been challenged on this detail in ways that we never
04:23have before. We've had to find things, mechanisms, other people to help us through it. And so those shared
04:30experiences build that bond and it builds that morale over time. For these young men and women, CLDT is an
04:38essential part of equipping them with the skills necessary to become effective organizational leaders
04:45and commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.
04:48West Point has put us through a 47 month experience of trials and tribulations that have
04:57cultivated to making us better people, better leaders, better people of characters. And this
05:04experience has just taught me that I'm capable of whatever I put my mind to.
05:09All right, folks, we are joined now by Air Force veteran and super producer Brett Baker for some
05:15headlines you may have missed. Brett, we just said that story about the cadets going through the
05:20leadership training. What's the Air Force equivalent of that?
05:23So the Army's is C or the West Point Academy is CLDT at the Air Force Academy at CCLD, the Center for
05:32Character and Leadership Development. It's not quite as field heavy as the Army's. They've got seminars,
05:39they do some shadowing of drill instructors and basic training, and they also get a lot of field
05:45experience out at actual Air Force bases with units that are in operation. So it's not quite the same
05:51thing, but again, the Army and the Air Force aren't quite the same. Aren't quite the same thing either.
05:55So yeah, so they approach it from different angles.
05:58That makes sense. All right, let's get to those headlines.
06:02Late last month, U.S. Southern Command released a video reportedly showing Marines during a live
06:08fire boat operation in the Caribbean Sea. According to those involved, the Marine presence aims to
06:14disrupt illicit drug trafficking. There were at least 10 strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific
06:20since early September in a campaign that has raised U.S. tensions with both Venezuela and
06:26Colombia. The Pentagon provided little information about any of the strikes, including the quantity
06:33of drugs the boats allegedly were carrying and the identities of those killed. Brett, I've covered
06:39this story quite a bit for Straight Arrow News, and it's really kind of a legal quagmire if the cartels
06:46are unlawful combatants and these guys are cartel members, then the strikes are legal.
06:52But there is some uncertainty over whether these guys are in fact cartel members. And the admiral
06:58overseeing Southern Command is actually retiring at the end of the year, just a year into the job.
07:04So the optics aren't exactly rosy, let's say. Yeah, it's definitely a weird situation. As far as my
07:14lifetime, it's unprecedented. I know that certain operations get carried out in different parts of
07:20the world for different reasons, and we'll probably never hear about many of them. I think the thing that
07:25makes this different is when you have leadership blasting it out on social media, you know, black
07:32and white video of demolition of a boat, and as it turns out, some lives. And without clear guidance
07:43on who those folks are, where they were coming from, what they had, it is very murky. I don't know that
07:49it's a path that the U.S. should be going down, but here we are. Here we are. And there has been
07:56some effort in Congress to kind of rein in these presidential powers. Those efforts thus far have
08:03not really gone anywhere. So until Congress decides to act, really, then the president is within his legal
08:13rights, according to the laws that they're citing to do these things. But time will tell to your point,
08:20Brett, on whether or not this is the right path for the U.S. to take.
08:26Defense Wunderkind Andrel Industries has opened a new manufacturing facility in Sydney, Australia,
08:32to produce their line of undersea drones known as Ghost Sharks. It's part of an effort to deliver
08:39on its $1.1 billion supply contract with Australia's Royal Navy. Now, according to Andrel,
08:45the nearly 80,000 square foot facility will ramp up to full-scale manufacturing in 2026.
08:53When you combine Australia's defense expertise with Andrel's rapid
08:58engineering and innovation model and culture, you create something that is greater than the sum of its
09:05parts. Ghost Shark is living proof of that. We must never allow bureaucracy, no matter how well
09:12intentioned, to stand in the way of delivering capability to the warfighter. Schools of Ghost
09:18Sharks will be made in Sydney and could then be exported to the United States and other nations,
09:24subject to Australian government approval. Brett, we've covered Ghost Sharks pretty extensively.
09:29And when paired with the Copperhead autonomous underwater vehicle, uh, slash, uh, torpedo that
09:35Andrel also makes, uh, you got quite the packaged deal. For sure. And it's just another sign of Andrel's
09:42growth. Um, we knew this was coming, uh, but to have it open and operating. And I think, you know,
09:49ultimately it's going to be a huge benefit for everyone who is in AUKUS, uh, because that's going to get
09:54everybody kind of on the same page on those kinds of platforms. Uh, and it's just, yeah, it's just,
10:01Andrel's just doing a lot of amazing things, uh, at the speed of which I don't know that we've
10:06probably seen in a defense company since maybe World War II. Right. Right. And the, uh, the DOD is
10:12trying to also change its procurement process to be able to purchase and integrate these things quickly,
10:19uh, and then update them quickly as necessary. Uh, and the, the ghost shark, uh, the, the Copperhead,
10:26um, when, when we're talking about these things, I'm reminded of, I think it was Navy League that we
10:30were at and they had that sea century. Um, I think, I think that was the name of it. Basically like
10:36underwater cell towers for lack of a better word, uh, to be able to connect all of these things and
10:42network all of these things together because communication underwater doesn't exactly work the same as,
10:47uh, uh, above the water. Uh, but yeah, to your point, uh, Andrel really moving fast,
10:52creating things that, you know, solutions for problems I didn't even know existed.
10:59And finally, a simple solution to a serious problem. This is video out of Ukraine of soldiers
11:05from the first core of the Ukrainian armed forces installing anti-drone nets along a frontline road
11:12near Donetsk and industrial city in southeastern Ukraine. Now this is not exactly a, uh, necessarily
11:18new tactic and it's not entirely foolproof, but the idea is to protect vulnerable supply routes from
11:25Russian drone attacks. Uh, Brett, these anti-drone nets are sort of the latest, uh, 21st century
11:31iteration of the Coke cage and really displays the dominance of drones on modern battlefields.
11:37What's the saying? A necessity is the mother of invention. And, you know, it's, it's just another
11:43kind of example of a low dollar, uh, means of addressing, uh, uh, uh, a low dollar problem,
11:51like in terms of the hardware, but obviously a high dollar problem when it comes to, uh, equipment and
11:56lives and troop movements. Um, yeah, it's, it's just kinda, it's kinda wild that the stuff that you're
12:03seeing out of Ukraine. Um, and I know, I know these things, uh, the Russians have found a way around
12:09some of them, but the fact that they have to spend time dealing with it in the first place
12:14is, is obviously to the Ukrainians advantage. Um, but yeah, uh, Ukrainians never cease to, uh, surprise,
12:23um, when it comes to finding an answer to a problem.
12:26Right. Right. And it's, you know, both sides are learning from each other. So as one side
12:33finds a solution, the other side is quick to copy that. Um, you know, we've seen this with, uh, not
12:39just the, uh, these nets, but also, uh, the fiber optic cable drones, those proved to be, you know,
12:45unjammable, pretty effective. And now the solution sometimes is to just run along behind it and cut it
12:51with scissors. We've seen that. Um, yeah. So the cat and mouse game continues, uh, hopefully this
12:57war ends sooner than later. And you and I have kind of joked, uh, a little bit of gallows humor,
13:02but you know, the, the money to be made when the war is over of gathering all of those fiber optic
13:08cables, uh, strewn about in fields all over Ukraine. So add, add netting to that list as well.
13:14Right. All right, Brett. Uh, really appreciate you, uh, joining us this week. We'll see you next time.
13:19See you next time.
13:23Practice as you play, train as you fight, whatever idiom you want to use. Training for real world
13:29scenario is absolutely critical to stopping enemy drones, UGVs, enemy forces from coming in at you,
13:36whatever the case may be, you need to practice first. And right here, I have a Browning machine
13:41gun set up with an Oculus system to help train Ukrainian fighters how to take down Shahed drones.
13:46So let's go ahead and try it out. All right. So I see a field, see some trees.
13:52Are you ready? I'm ready. Let's go.
13:55All right. So I got two down.
14:10Oh, I'm not going to get it. I'm not going to get it. Oh no, I missed one.
14:14Oh no. Is that it? Oh man. There was four. I only saw three.
14:26Well, that was pretty fun. And it just kind of goes to show you how hard it really is
14:29to shoot a Shahed drone out of the sky.
14:31All right, folks, for comps check this week, we are getting an update on the Scorpion
14:38mobile mortar system. Got it all out here to talk more about that is Peter Hernandez
14:44with Global Ordnance. Peter, thank you so much for joining us today.
14:46Absolutely. Thanks for joining us.
14:47So we, we kind of talked about the Scorpion earlier this year at soft week.
14:51We had the Scorpion again. This one's a little bit different.
14:54Kind of talk about, you know, this system and how it compares to what we've talked about earlier.
14:59Yeah, absolutely. So there's our 120 millimeter mortar system.
15:02Instead of the 81, as you saw at soft week, it's slightly different, obviously bigger round,
15:06bigger barrel, but mainly the biggest difference is just bigger.
15:09The other difference is this is pneumatically powered instead of the manual one you saw before,
15:14just because it's a heavier load, but the same system altogether, same idea,
15:19goes on any vehicle, whatever you need, whatever size.
15:21And that vehicle agnostic part is, you know, really important.
15:25Um, recently you just did the, the test fire up at Quantico.
15:29Uh, there's the transformation and contact 2.0 coming up at the Army.
15:33Uh, walk me through how that live fire went and then what are we learning to,
15:37or what do we hope to learn from the, uh, transformation and contact exercise?
15:42Yeah. So the Quantico live fire went very well.
15:44It was a great opportunity to show off the vehicle's capabilities,
15:47the shoot and scoot ability to stow, drop, fire, and then get out of there as quickly as possible.
15:52Uh, with the TIC 2.0, we're hoping to see, uh, just get into the hands of a lot of soldiers,
15:58get their experience on it. Hopefully they'll be able to learn the system.
16:01Hopefully they'll like it. We've had good feedback so far, so I want to keep that going.
16:05And how important is it to have, you know, the, the soldier feedback?
16:09Cause like you said, you know, you had your own guys operating the system, demonstrating the system,
16:14but when you have actual end users being able to get their hands on, on the thing and do the thing,
16:20how important is that, uh, from a company perspective?
16:22Well, that's the most important. They're going to be the ones that end up using it.
16:25If they don't like it, they're going to have a rough time and they're not going to want to use it.
16:29So we want to make sure that the system's going to work exactly how they want it.
16:32And always open to feedback on how we can make it better, how they'd like it better.
16:36So that's the most important part of the whole project, really.
16:40All right, man. Peter, really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us today.
16:42All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors.
16:50All right, folks, this episode of Weapons and Warfare is almost at its end, but before we dip out,
16:55I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about mental health in the veterans community.
16:59So let me walk you through my thought process just a little bit before I make my point.
17:04Last week was Veterans Day. My social media was filled with posts from people thanking the men
17:09and women in their lives who served. Great to see.
17:13Also last week, Netflix released a new documentary called In Waves and War,
17:19which follows the journeys four former US service members are taking
17:24to find help dealing with the mental and emotional trauma they suffered while serving.
17:29These men could not get the help they needed through normal means, though,
17:33and turned to psychedelic treatments in Mexico instead.
17:37Specifically, Ibogaine and DMT. While watching the documentary, which I encourage you all to do,
17:44I was reminded of the conversation I had with Matt Wiz Buckley a while back.
17:49Wiz is a former naval aviator who is now spearheading a movement to get psychedelic treatments
17:56like Ibogaine approved for veterans here in the United States. He says Ibogaine saved his life,
18:03and it's done the same for dozens of other veterans he knows.
18:08So on the one hand, my social media feed was full of folks expressing gratitude to veterans.
18:14On the other hand, there's yet another compelling piece of evidence that America is failing those
18:20very same people to whom we're giving that thanks and gratitude. When I talked to Wiz,
18:26he was extremely critical of then President Biden and his administration for failing to deliver on this.
18:32We're almost a year into a new presidency, and the life-saving psychedelic treatments still aren't
18:39being implemented in the United States. If we want to show our veterans just how grateful we are to have
18:46them, we need to press our elected leaders to give those veterans access to any treatment that could improve
18:54their mental health, making life livable. We owe them that because of what they paid for us.
19:02That's going to do it for us this week on Weapons and Warfare. As always, if you like what we are
19:06putting out, go ahead and follow us on social media and download the Straight Arrow News app today.
19:12For senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, and motion artist Dakota Patio,
19:17I'm Ryan Robertson for Straight Arrow News, signing off.
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