Army mariners discharge vehicles on the beach via the causeway ferry as part of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operation during Talisman Sabre 2023 in Bowen, Australia, in July 2023. (US Army/ Maj. Jonathon Daniell)
WASHINGTON — US Army plans to refill weapon stockpiles and weapon modernization milestones may have dominated our service-related news this year, but Breaking Defense also carved out time to chase down a few offbeat stories too.
Here are my five top Army stories from the past 12 months (a few with crucial assists) that range from an Australian-bug-logistics challenge and Russians playing with a Javelin in Abu Dhabi, to way too much time spent talking about “occlusion” and doors.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2023 and look forward to what 2024 may hold.]
1. Russians playing with Javelins: US Army, Russia display weapons yards apart in the desert
In 2023, in the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and America’s stalwart support of Kyiv, what happens when Russian defense companies set up shop at one of the world’s largest weapons shows in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates? The US Army pops up a simple tent with a white canvas sign, devoid of any US military insignia, just a few yards down.
In it, and next to it, American soldiers donning 116th Cavalry Brigade unit patches, show off a Javelin and an operational Patriot launcher, while fielding curious passersby’ questions about the weapons.
Outside IDEX 2023 this year, Russians were among those guests peering through the Javelin’s viewfinder. One US Army soldier billed the mood as so jovial (my word, not his) and even said he traded patches with one Russian.
2. Army’s pricey IVAS goggles meet a training obstacle: Doors
The Army and Microsoft’s quest to develop a combat-suitable, heads-up display for soldiers continued on this year, and the service even began fielding a small batch of the initial Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) configuration to schoolhouses. However, the Army also wants to use the device as the centerpiece of a mixed-reality training system that it dubs the Squad Immersive Virtual Trainer (SiVT) program.
Breaking Defense spoke with more than a half dozen current and former service officials and industry sources about dynamic occlusion limitations with that program — the lack of ability to hide a virtual object behind a real one — that could limit how soldiers use IVAS to train in mixed-reality scenarios.
While the service previously acknowledged that it faces challenges using IVAS outdoors for mixed-reality training due, in part, to ever-changing light conditions, those occlusion limitations also inhibit how soldiers train indoors too. For example, they are not able to open a real door and then suddenly see the virtual objects, like enemies, that had been virtually placed behind the real-world objects. The Army, and entire mixed-reality industry, is working on the broader issue but there is not a single, easy fix.
3. From petroleum pipes to pest problems, what a US Army two-star learned from Talisman Sabre 23
“Every plan you do does not survive the first day,” 8th Theater Sustainment Command Maj. Gen. Jered Helwig told Breaking Defense this year following Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 in Australia. “We had to make some quick changes, and having the combined joint theater sustainment component, which was a mix of us and Australian partners, really helped us get after those things.”
While the first part of his remarks may have been echoing the famous maxim by a Prussian general (or heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson), neither spent time wrestling with contested logistics hurdles in the Indo-Pacific at a time when Washington is preparing for a possible military incursion there.
From agricultural inspections for bugs to laying three miles of pipe to move fuel from the waterline up to an airfield inland, Helwig and the service are looking for ways to up their game and better prepare to work with regional allies and partners.
4. Shooting for the moon: Army’s 2025 budget to reflect artillery revamp
If the wars between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Hamas have shown Army leaders one thing, it’s the importance of maintaining a deep magazine to stay in the fight. While that sentiment extends beyond the artillery world and 155-millimeter production, the service is studying which artillery capabilities its future arsenal needs ahead of its fiscal 2025 budget request.
5. ‘Good, healthy debate’: Eyeing the Indo-Pacific, Army leaders grapple with force structure shake up
Yes, 2023 ushered in a host of well-documented senior leaders changes across the services. For the Army, that meant saying goodbye to Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and hello to Gen. Randy George.
The new top uniformed leader wasted little time, discussing potential force structure and training changes to better prepare the service to fight a modern war. And this fall George — along Army Futures Command Gen. James Rainey and Army Pacific commander Gen. Charles Flynn — provided a peak at what this could mean for the service.
The verdict: Nothing is decided, but some of the Army’s formations are simply too heavy, and the service needs to think through the roles of some of its newer teams like the multi-domain task force and security force assistance brigade.
