I hope many of you were able to watch my History Channel special, "Chuck Norris's Epic Guide to Military Vehicles." It was a lot of fun to film, and an extremely informational show about the latest and greatest military vehicles.
I don't know if we'll ever film my "epic guide to military weaponry," but if we do, there are a couple weapons that should make the first cut, and one was just demonstrated a few days ago when the U.S. shot down the Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, as President Trump reported and Iran denies.
"The USS Boxer [an amphibious assault ship] took defensive action after the drone closed to within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down. The president called it the latest 'hostile' action by Iran," Fox News reported.
Before I share with you the military's newest and latest technology that brought down that Iranian drone, let me first say that weaponry upgrades are on the rise in every arena of the armed forces, from sky and space to ground warfare.
Matthew Cox at Military.com reported that: "The Army general in charge of modernizing soldier lethality said recently he is confident that the service will begin replacing both M249 squad automatic weapons and the M4 carbines in infantry brigades in 2023."
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Brig. Gen. David Hodne, director of the Army's Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team, explained at a June 16 Army Futures Command media event: "Army testers are currently shooting the first 6.8mm rounds through a variety of rifle and automatic rifle prototypes of the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) at Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland.
"Both the NGSW carbine and automatic rifle are being designed to fire a special, government-designed 6.8mm projectile that Army leaders say will penetrate modern enemy body armor at greater distances than the current M855A1 5.56mm Enhanced Performance Round."
"The service's goal is to select a final design for both weapons from a single provider in the first quarter of 2022 and begin replacing M4s and M249s in an infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) in the first quarter of 2023," Gen. Hodne explained to Military.com.
AFC Commander Gen. Mike Murray explained to reporters at the Army Futures Command media event that the NGSW effort is part of the modernization strategy being orchestrated by Army Futures Command (AFC). Based in Austin, Texas, the command will reach full operating capability as of July 31.
As far as the downed Iranian drone, a new Marine Corps' Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, known as LMADIS, jammed the Iranian drone It attaches to MRZR all-terrain vehicles and scans the skies for enemy aircraft. The LMADIS is a maneuverable system typically used on the ground, but recently tested on several Navy ships, deployed for the first time in January aboard the USS Kearsarge – the same class of warship as the USS Boxer.
Military.com again reported, LMADIS "uses a radar and cameras to scan the sky to detect drones and distinguish between friendly and hostile systems. Once it locates a threat, it uses radio frequencies to jam the drone, C4ISR reported in May
Citing Capt. Forrest Williams, Jane's International Defence Review explained the origin of LMADIS: "An urgent needs statement for a C-UAS 'gap filler' spawned the creation of LMADIS. … What resulted was the decision to outfit some Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicles with an Ascent Vision CM202 multi-sensor optical ball, RADA RPS-42 radar, a tablet, and Sierra Nevada Corporation's dismounted electronic countermeasure system (Modi). The optical ball and radar are then used to detect class I and II UASs. The information is then fed into the tablet where marines slew the camera to determine if it is a friendly or enemy drone. If it is the latter, they use the electronic warfare jammer to break the connection between the pilot and the aircraft." (You can take a closer look at the LMADIS system here on this YouTube video by Capt. Forrest Williams).
For more on the latest technological upgrades of military weaponry, I recommend Fox News article, "$674 billion of tanks, fighter jets, subs and more to boost U.S. military power in 2019."
With tensions ratcheting up between the U.S. and Iran, and the Revolutionary Guard seizure of two UK-operated tankers in Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Republic should be very concerned about the advanced weaponry capabilities and other arsenal of the U.S. military.
I love all peoples of the world, but I also believe the U.S. must defend its citizens and interests, too. Despite Iran's deadly armory and its capabilities to fight the U.S., our great U.S. military personnel believe as I've believed and taught my whole life: violence is my last option. But it is my option if push comes to shove.