{"id":50024,"date":"2023-02-24T19:23:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/02\/24\/army-redesigning-fires-units-amid-modernization-push-chief-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:12:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:12:04","slug":"army-redesigning-fires-units-amid-modernization-push-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2023\/02\/24\/army-redesigning-fires-units-amid-modernization-push-chief-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Army redesigning fires units amid modernization push, chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army is planning new ways to organize and distribute artillery, air defense and counter-unmanned aerial surveillance units throughout the force as modernization projects come to fruition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Army \u201ctransform[s], we\u2019re gonna have to build new organizations,\u201d said Gen. James McConville, the service\u2019s chief of staff, at a Thursday event hosted by George Washington University\u2019s Project for Media and National Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief described the looming force structure overhaul as a \u201chard look.\u201d The Army\u2019s challenge, he said, is designing and implementing organizations that adequately harness new technologies while not increasing their staffing levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before dismal recruiting numbers caused the Army to shed troops<\/a>, the service\u2019s decision to protect modernization projects from budget constraints meant its end strength would remain virtually unchanged<\/a> for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McConville mentioned needing new unit designs specifically for long-range precision fires, air and missile defense, and counter-unmanned aerial surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the chief didn\u2019t offer many details on the force structure redesign, some pilot efforts and other early steps are already known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service stood up a battery<\/a> designed for the \u201cDark Eagle\u201d hypersonic missile at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, in 2021. Those soldiers have launchers but still no missiles \u2014 the Army plans to complete another round of testing<\/a> by the end of September, and defense publication Aviation Week reported<\/a> the service expects to field the missile by then, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\t