Posted on Feb 5, 2023
Inside the Marine Corps' project to automate the journey through key 'last mile' - Breaking...
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Amid the US Navy’s hyperactive interest in advancing unmanned maritime drones, the Marine Corps has been developing an autonomous navigation kit built specifically for closing the critical “last mile” where amphibious watercraft meet cluttered, rough beaches — areas especially vulnerable during combat.
The effort has been dubbed the “Autonomous Littoral Connector,” and while its mission is harder than it sounds, the tech is wading towards operational use, according to exclusive interviews with officials from the forward-leaning Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
“It’s [making it through] that last mile with as little risk as possible, knowing that we’ll be in a contested environment,” Lt. Col. Timothy Smith, an officer at MCWL overseeing the program, told Breaking Defense. The whole premise of the Autonomous Littoral Connector is “about reducing risk, and that means people.”
The effort has been dubbed the “Autonomous Littoral Connector,” and while its mission is harder than it sounds, the tech is wading towards operational use, according to exclusive interviews with officials from the forward-leaning Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
“It’s [making it through] that last mile with as little risk as possible, knowing that we’ll be in a contested environment,” Lt. Col. Timothy Smith, an officer at MCWL overseeing the program, told Breaking Defense. The whole premise of the Autonomous Littoral Connector is “about reducing risk, and that means people.”
Inside the Marine Corps' project to automate the journey through key 'last mile' - Breaking...
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."At the end of the day, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s mission is to design new technologies that may be of use to the service in its future fight. Whether the current chief of naval operations or commandant decides to use any given gadget or widget is out of Smith’s and Dahn’s hands.
But even if this particular program isn’t picked up, that’s not to say their work could all be for nothing. The Navy and Marine Corps have expressed clear interest in autonomous and unmanned vessels in recent years, and there’s little reason to think that will change short-term. Dahn said she hopes that if nothing else, the work done on the Autonomous Littoral Connector will be added to the Pentagon’s collective knowledge on how to design autonomous and unmanned craft in the future.
“Personally, I’m hoping that we’re learning things here that are really going to help the Navy and the Marine Corps as they do build or design things going forward… so you can have these optionally manned boats and systems [to help the service] be more effective and safe,” she said."
..."At the end of the day, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s mission is to design new technologies that may be of use to the service in its future fight. Whether the current chief of naval operations or commandant decides to use any given gadget or widget is out of Smith’s and Dahn’s hands.
But even if this particular program isn’t picked up, that’s not to say their work could all be for nothing. The Navy and Marine Corps have expressed clear interest in autonomous and unmanned vessels in recent years, and there’s little reason to think that will change short-term. Dahn said she hopes that if nothing else, the work done on the Autonomous Littoral Connector will be added to the Pentagon’s collective knowledge on how to design autonomous and unmanned craft in the future.
“Personally, I’m hoping that we’re learning things here that are really going to help the Navy and the Marine Corps as they do build or design things going forward… so you can have these optionally manned boats and systems [to help the service] be more effective and safe,” she said."
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