The Future of Amphibious Warfare

[Music] keep moving [Applause] amphibious assaults a major focus of this year's RIMPAC or rim of the Pacific the exercise involved 22 Allied nations including the US the UK and China China is a major driving force in the United States renewed focus on Asia as the rapid expansion of China's military might has escalated tension and territorial disputes in the area but while the u.s. seeks to play a bigger role in the Pacific it won't be easy it's halfway across the globe covering roughly 1/3 of the planet and most of its water so the challenge is the US military must be able to move armies over long stretches of water and do it fast [Music] the Marine Corps over the last 12 years because we've been engaged in operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom we have been engaged in a land war that's what has been required of us and that's what the the Marine Corps has been able to provide for the nation but by no means does that say that we've gotten away from our route those routes are an amphibious assault the Marine Corps has been hitting the beaches for more than 200 years from Tripoli to Normandy and beyond but moving from sea to land can be treacherous the first day of Normandy in World War 2 killed almost as many Allied soldiers as nine years of fighting in Iraq even worse the proliferation of cheaper and more accurate long-range missiles forces ships to launch amphibious operations farther out to sea and escalates the chance that an already risky operation will turn into a one-sided slaughter to pull off amphibious operations the Marines will have to adapt to the threat [Music] right before the start of the exercise we managed to catch a tour on the USS Peleliu a mothership that carries Marines and their equipment across the ocean and close to shore to launch an amphibious assault [Music] one of the things that the military is always doing is taking existing technologies and platforms and working them into both new and old missions one of the critical technologies for the Marines as they make a pivot backed amphibious assault is the B 22 Osprey it's one of these aircraft that doesn't quite know if it's a helicopter and airplane it's actually both and it's become a critical part of the Marine Corps for moving troops around in theater the Ospreys speed and range make it ideal for targeted raids and air assaults but to carry heavy equipment like tanks and artillery amphibious vehicles are still necessary so in a couple days they're gonna launch from this ship they're gonna open the thing and these guys are gonna head to shore yeah well we'll ballast the ship which means will essentially sink the back of the ship they'll fill up with six to eight feet of water and these will back up and launched into the into the to the well deck and out of the out of the back of the ship and what are these things these are basically tanks that go in the water floating tanks especially yeah floating tanks that that carry a bunch of Marines correct once the exercise begins amphibious assault vehicles or a DS launch from the back of the ship driving towards the beach a hybrid of armored personnel carriers and boats a Avs bring Marines ashore to fight but they force them to pack light so to hold the beach they need to land a lot of reinforcements and do it fast before the enemy has time to counter it the key to doing that quickly our vessels called connectors apart ship in part plane the landing craft air cushion or El CAC is a connector small enough to fit into the well deck but powerful enough to carry a tank from ship to shore at more than 40 miles an hour but aging equipment and new threats mean the Marines must explore new technologies to adapt exotic hybrids like the ultra heavy amphibious connector or you hack which combines a paddle wheel with a tractor will be able to cover more distance with more gear than the L pack [Music] once on land the Marines must be able to mobilize troops and equipment quickly in order to move inland to complete the assault [Music] [Music] [Music] the Marine Corps is testing new technologies to allow troops to move faster and more efficiently as they transition to land by combining advanced robotics with more familiar means of hauling gear like cars and pack animals RIMPAC is the first live military trial for the ls3 known more affectionately as Cujo which is capable of hauling up to 400 pounds a distance of 20 miles without having to refuel the asia-pacific region is incredibly important to the United States it has been in the past it is today and will continue to be so in the future our country has established the rebalance policy to bring more forces more effort and more engagement with this very critical region I think you will find that the Marine Corps has been challenged in order to have the right force at the right place at the right time and things like RIMPAC 2014 gives us the opportunity to train together to ensure that our forces are ready for any crisis in the future while the official line stressed the cooperative and diplomatic focus of RIMPAC the exercise has two seemingly contradictory facets on one hand it's all about diplomacy and international cooperation yet a major objective of the whole effort is to showcase American military might in the Pacific especially to check China with the world's largest army and second largest military budget a rising superpower has been ramping up their military presence in the Pacific and flexing their muscles with a series of hostile moves that claim ownership of the South China Sea inciting outrage in neighboring countries over what is arguably the most disputed region on earth but in the same way that China is both friend and foe this year China was invited by the u.s. to participate at RIMPAC for the first time we just landed on the Chinese naval vessel this is the hospital ship and the name of it is the peace Ark and we're here to take a tour of this hospital ship that's participating in the RIMPAC exercises the Chinese sailors have more cameras than we do so big filmed as we're filming so we're heading into the operating room now this ship is fully functional hospital floating hospital what's really interesting is that it increases China's ability to conduct operations all throughout the Pacific having a hospital ship means being able to treat soldiers while still in the midst of conflict freeing the Chinese to deploy more war fighting assets to even farther ranges but when we spoke with the commander he shifted the conversation away from the ship's military role the peace Ark belongs to the Chinese Navy so if we have a wartime mission so the ship will provide medical service for our charities but according to the international law will maybe we'll also provide a net medical service to any nations but that's not a way we that's not we hope so because we we want we stay on peace age so we want to spread our conception of pea hominis or hummus ocean to the whole world one of the things that you notice when you walk around the ship is that the signs are both in Chinese in English a lot of the Chinese sailors are wearing what you call friendship pins I guess that have an American flag and a Chinese flag and that's really emblematic of the relationship between the US and China it's complicated where both have to work together by necessities but we're also a rival in this region though China seemed to be playing nice at RIMPAC on behalf of my colleagues I show my respect the surprise appearance of an uninvited Chinese spy ship reminded everyone of China's growing military ambition and that tensions in the Pacific are alive and well so as our nation rebalances to asia-pacific one of the things that does not change is the tyranny of distance the Pacific Ocean is no smaller but capabilities both ours our friends and our partners and also potential adversaries have forced us to do things to in order to address those challenges as the Marines tackle the question of amphibious landing the evolution of new equipment and tactics is crucial the success of amphibious operations will not only be a measure of us power in the Pacific but the Marines ability to remain a relevant fighting force in the future of modern warfare [Music] [Applause] [Music] look in the eye right now when I see your lawyers I see that the procedure code is alive and well in the capital's lawyer the day is coming be ready for that fight will stand together to defeat any foe the Pacific is a vast and complicated region it's got sixty percent of the world's population fifty percent of the world's geography and it's rife with international conflict so the feeling in the US military is that we better be prepared to fight there [Music]

Channel: VICE News

Views: 2,251,457

Rating: 4.8255863 out of 5

Keywords: amphibious warfare, future of amphibious warfare, maritime warfare, Amphibious Assault Ship (Ship Type), modern warfare, US military, Asia-Pacific region, RIMPAC, technology, Marine Corps, future of war, VICE News, news, VICE, VICE Magazine, documentary, interviews, world news, breaking news, happening now, documentaries, interview, culture, wild, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice presents, army basic training

Id: P5f-Bt3DXfU

Length: 13min 56sec (836 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 02 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/SD99FRC]

First half of this had me wanting to reenlist for a second.

Then I got better.

[u/dmosis]

Vice has been putting out some real quality material lately

[u/crabbypinch]

fun fact, that host Kaj Larsen is a former SEAL officer

https://www.missioncontinues.org/about/our-board/kaj-larsen/

and funny: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/4d109s/investigating-investigative-journalism