Marine Corps is currently reorganizing itself to be able to confront major powers and land battles. It will become smaller, lighter, more agile and be able move between domains. It will also use more unmanned platforms to enhance its firepower. There are still many challenges.
The Marine Corps will undergo the most dramatic overhaul in its history. To achieve this, the Corps is trading its tanks for unmanned planes and boats. A new breed of Marines will emerge. It will have a greater talent pool and help the United States keep ahead of its near-peer rivals.
The Marines currently serve as a ground force in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Corps plans to shift to a more flexible and volatile model. The Corps will decrease its infantry battalions to 21 from 24. There will also be fewer helicopter squadrons and tilt-rotor aircraft. Instead, Marines will be organized into three littoral regiments, each of which will be armed with long-range precision fires. The Marines will also have drones to increase their firepower as well as reach.
The new kind of Marine will be spread out on the battlefield, and will be able to operate along the coastlines and in chokepoints. This is a vast improvement on the Corps of 2010. It is also a far cry for the Corps in 2010.
However, the new approach to amphibious operations may not be sufficient to defeat heavily mechanized enemies. For example, the North Korean People's Army or the Russian Ground Forces would have a difficult time slugging with the Marines' heavy guns.
The Corps will have to invest in long-range precision weapons, drones, and ships to counter this. In the next few years, new capabilities will start coming online. Some of these capabilities exist, but the Corps does not yet have the infrastructure to support a primetime 5-G network.
Marines are now undergoing Tartan Eagle 2222 training exercise. During the exercise, four Marines were killed when their plane crashed in a Norwegian town. Seven people rushed to aid the victims of the crash. The emergency services arrived eventually.
These are good steps, but the Marine Corps has many acquisition problems. The Corps will lose its tank battalions as well as purchase fewer F-35C Joint Strike Fighters. Also, its helicopter squadrons will be reduced. The Corps continues to move forward with its Force Design 2030 strategy.
The Marine Corps' makeover is intended to position it to seize China’s South China Sea bases. To do this, the Marines will need to shrink their size, and will need to reorient their mission to focus on the Pacific. In case of conflict, the Marines need to buy more small-sized amphibious ships as well as a fleet of ground vehicles capable in threatening Chinese maritime systems.