February 06, 2017

Marine Corps looks to empower squad leaders with new combat tech

Featuring Adam Routh

Source: Military Times

Journalist Shawn Snow

The Marine Corps is planning to field new high-tech combat gear — a ­rifle-mounted laser range finder — that will give squad leaders some extraordinary new capabilities and revolutionize the way the Corps’ small units operate in battle. 

The laser range finders could for the first time allow infantry squad leaders to call in air strikes and artillery fire, a change that would vastly increase the lethality of small infantry units and push previously unheard of responsibility down to junior Marines at the squad level.

Specifically, the sophisticated laser range finder, which could cost nearly $10,000 each, would give squad leaders instant access to detailed information about distances and locations for targets that require heavy fires.

Read the full article at the Military Times.

Authors

  • Adam Routh

    Research Associate, Defense Program

    Adam Routh is a Research Associate with the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security and a PhD student in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College Lon...