Ashley M. Calingo, a spokeswoman with MARCORSYSCOM, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement that BAE — the manufacturer of the ACV — had selected a version of the Kongsberg medium caliber turret, or MCT-30, for a variant of the new amphib vehicle.

“BAE has also informed the Marine Corps that the MCT-30 version for the Marine Corps will be a lighter weight version of the Stryker system and use the Mk44 gun which is common with US Navy applications instead of the XM813 gun used on Stryker,” Calingo said.

The MCT-30 — manufactured by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace — said in a news release that it would deliver up to 150 of the MCT-30 remote turret weapon systems as part of a “phased program.”

“The system provides highly accurate firepower for wheeled or tracked combat vehicles. It is remotely controlled and operated from a protected position inside the vehicle compartment for optimized crew safety,” Kongsberg said in a release.

The MCT-30 remote turret boasting the heavier XM813 30mm cannon is currently fielded on a Stryker variant known as the Infantry Carrier Vehicle – Dragoon.

Defense News reported in May 2019 that the Army had decided to equip its Double V-Hull A1 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles with a 30mm cannon following a review of lessons learned from 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Europe.

The double V-hull variant of the Stryker was manufactured due to the armored vehicle’s poor performance against roadside bombs.

In early 2019, the Corps announced it was looking at three variants of the ACV — a command and control configuration, a recovery and maintenance setup and ACVs with 30mm medium-caliber cannons.

Kongsberg said test article delivery of the MCT-30 turret for the ACV will kick off in early 2021.

BAE told Marine Corps Times that it evaluated five vendors for the ACV turret which included a live fire assessment with more than a dozen systems.

“Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace (KDA) offered the best balance between performance, meeting the unique integration requirements of a fully amphibious system, and schedule,” BAE said in an emailed statement to Marine Corps Times.

BAE said the MCT-30 turret selected for the ACV is a version of the 30mm gun on the Stryker.

“Significant modifications to the base design were necessary for integrating into a fully amphibious combat vehicle,” BAE said.

BAE said it would complete an initial integration phase next year and that initial production units are planned for 2023.

From March 17 to March 30 the U.S. handed over four bases to Iraqi forces, to include an airfield near Mosul and a strategic outpost near the Iraq-Syria border known as al-Qaim. In April the coalition handed over a fifth base, Taqaddum air field, which fell outside the reporting quarter for the IG report.

Operation Inherent Resolve — the U.S.-led mission to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria — detailed in several news releases that the base transfers were long planned in advanced and were the result of successful operations against ISIS.

But in a recent IG report, the coalition admitted the base transfers — while long planned in advanced — were accelerated “in some part due to increased threats presented by malign actors.”

OIR told the IG that the “nascent threat of malign actors” and the “change in focus from [defeat-ISIS] operations to force protection” resulted in a force posture change.

OIR noted that a coalition task force “discontinued face-to-face interaction with their Iraqi partners, and ground travel to partner locations halted, ‘ which reduced OIR’s “visibility into partner force activity.”

The transfers came amid tensions with Iran following a January U.S. decapitation strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and a subsequent retaliatory ballistic missile strike launched by Iran that wounded dozens of American troops stationed on two Iraq bases.

Iran-backed militias continued deadly rocket attacks targeting coalition troops housed across Iraq bases. Two U.S. troops and a British service member were killed when more than a dozen rockets slammed Camp Taji in March.

“This base transfer occurred amid force protection concerns sparked by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran and its proxy militias, which CJTF-OIR [Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve] said led to an acceleration of the long-term transfer plan,” Sean W. O’Donnell, the acting inspector general for the DoD said in IG report.

OIR told the IG that “the frequency and increasing lethality of these attacks” from “malign actors” resulted in the U.S. shifting priorities from defeat ISIS to force protection.

The DoD Office of the Undersecretary for Policy, International Security Affairs told the IG that the coalition’s shift to force protection “diminished” support to Iraqi force and “probably sowed doubt within the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces]” whether support would return.

There was another factor as well.

The IG report also detailed that COVID-19 caused disruptions for Iraqi and Syrian partner forces. Iraqi forces paused training while Syrian Democratic Forces paused operations against ISIS fighters due to the pandemic.

OIR told the IG that it “resumed most relationships” with Iraqi forces over a four-week period but not all relationships returned to “pre-pause levels.”

OIR reported a decrease in some visibility of the OIR mission since the consolidation of forces, according to the report.

It’s part of Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger’s plans to overhaul the Corps to conduct sea denial operations, survive in a contested maritime environment and serve as a larger Naval expeditionary force.

The new littoral regiment will consist of a combat team, an anti-air battalion and a logistics battalion. The combat team will be organized around an infantry battalion and an long-range anti-ship battery, MCCDC explained.

The Hawaii-based littoral regiment will be pieced together over the next three years with most of the force being carved out of units already based in Hawaii, according to MCCDC.

Subsequent littoral regiments may potentially be based in Guam and Japan, MCCDC said.

An infantry battalion and a battery aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii will comprise the combat team, while the logistics unit will also hail from Hawaii. Elements of anti-air battalion will come from outside of Hawaii, MCCDC said.

The new Marine Littoral Regiment will be comprised of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 Marines and sailors, but the final design of the new unit is still under consideration, according to MCCDC. In comparison 3rd Marine Regiment is roughly 3,400 Marines and sailors.

The Corps is looking for a unit that can operate and survive in a contested maritime environment where near-peers like China can challenge Marines for supremacy in the air or on sea.

In a future fight the U.S. military may not be able to dominate the air space, choke points or waterways. Marines will need to be able to fight in this complex environment and rapidly mobilize forces to control tight waterways, small islands or locations to sink ships with mobile based truck platforms.

That means Marines will have to once again worry about air threats, cruise missiles, their visible and electromagnetic spectrum signature on the ground while also employing systems to sink ships — a relatively new mission for the Corps.

The littoral regiment combat team is “designed to provide the basis for employing multiple platoon-reinforced-size expeditionary advance base sites that can host and enable a variety of missions such as long-range anti-ship fires, forward arming and refueling of aircraft, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance of key maritime terrain, and air-defense and early warning,” MCCDC said in an emailed statement.

MCCDC told Marine Corps Times that the combat team will employ an anti-ship missile fired from a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle known as Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS.

The Corps has looked at a range of missiles it could use to sink ships to include the Raytheon’s Naval Strike Missile.

The new littoral regiment will use “small but long-range landing craft as its primary method of tactical and theater-wide mobility,” MCCDC detailed.

“Over time the specifics of the MLR will begin to take shape. Experiments, wargames, modeling and simulation will play a key role in the phased approach to the MLR development,” MCCDC said.

Military.com first reported details of the new MLR unit.

Army Gen. Richard D. Clarke, the commander of SOCOM, said Tuesday during a virtual running of the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, that countering violent extremist groups was a generational issue and would remain the number one priority for U.S. special operators.

Clarke’s comments comes as national security experts and members of Congress have questioned SOCOM’s role in addressing near-peer adversaries like Russia and China.

For decades SOCOM has provided troops trained and primed to operate against terrorist and extremists organizations often operating out of more permissive environments. But the DoD is amid a massive shift to counter rising adversaries like Russia and China.

While Clarke said SOF would continue to hunt down extremists groups moving into the future, he told audience members streaming SOFIC that the fight to counter terror groups is not mutually exclusive from the Defense Department’s pivot to great power competition.

Highlighting a recent trip to the Indo-Pacifc region, Clarke explained that allies, partnerships and maintaining alliances will be an integral part to addressing near-peers in the future.

Special operations forces are uniquely placed to fill that role, serving in a number of host nation countries helping train partner forces to counter violent extremist groups.

In the Philippines, an important potential buffer to China’s ambitions in the region, American commandos “provided casualty triage and evacuation assistance” on three occasions supporting Phillipine forces during the stretch from Jan 1 to March 31, according to a recent inspector general report.

The IG report detailed that U.S. special operators assisted five Philippine soldiers wounded in the three separate occurrences in southern and central Mindanao when Philippine assets were unavailable.

American commandos are also partnering with Philippine troops “to conduct a week-long combat casualty care training with the goal of building the independent casualty evacuation capabilities of the Philippine forces,” the IG report reads.

Philippine forces are battling a number of terror and militant groups in the country to include ISIS. The IG report noted there was an estimated 300 to 500 ISIS-linked fighters in the Philippines.

“Great power competition is about influence” and American special operators have a “unique role” to play in this through presence, partnerships and training, Clarke explained. Clarke also said the information space was important.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II also made an appearance during the virtual SOFIC session and told viewers that ISIS was trying to exploit COVID-19 by increasing attacks in Iraq and “threatening to undo years of effort.”

The images show a recruit at Parris Island, South Carolina, and a Marine in Darwin, Australia, shooting in the standing and prone respectively, but holding the rifle in a manner not commonly done by Marines undergoing marksmanship training across the school houses.

The images were posted to Facebook and the Defense Department’s imagery website known as DVIDS. Stars and Stripes reporter Chad Garland posted the images on Twitter sparking a conversation in a thread discussing the strange grip.

Marine Corps Times reached out to Marine Corps Combat Development Command to inquire whether the Corps had adopted a new shooting grip or stance in its program of instruction across the recruit depots and the fleet.

“The grip you saw is not part of any of our doctrine (Marksmanship Order) and not part of any of our POIs (Combat Marksmanship Coaches – CMC courses),” MCCDC said in an emailed statement.

“Most likely, the Marine is either trying a different position on his own or something they may have learned from civilian competitive shooting competitions,” MCCDC explained.

The strange rifle grip appears to be used in competition shooting, but it’s best suited for the standing position and not the prone.

A former member of the Marine Corps Shooting Team told Marine Corps Times that the technique has been taught within the Corps’ shooting team. The MCST participates in a number of shooting competitions throughout the year.

Images posted to the MCST’s Facebook page depict variations of the grip while in the standing position.

“It is used by many in the standing position for competition. Everyone is built differently, and each shooting position is unique for everyone. If it gives him a stable platform, it’s worth it,” the former MCST member said.

The shooting grip and position helps keep the support arm elbow tucked into the chest while in the standing, which helps provide support and stability for the shooter.

“It does keep the arm tucked in nicely in the standing,” the former MCST member said. “I’ve seen some crazy positions throughout the years. Many don’t work well.”

MCCDC told Marine Corps Times that the Marine Corps order does support a shooter using this particular grip and stance.

Rifle coaches at Parris Island are teaching according to the marksmanship program order. “Personal grips may vary as long as they abide by said order,” MCCDC said.

Some gyms remain closed, but major installations from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Camp Pendleton, California, to Quantico, Virginia, have some fitness centers open aboard their respective installations.

Capt. Allison Burgos a spokeswoman for Quantico, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement that Quantico’s Barber Physical Activities Center is open for active duty and first responders.

She explained the gym is limiting access to 50 people at a time with a one-hour limit that expires at the top of every hour. Marines may reenter the facility after their hour has expired but they must exit the gym and get back in line.

A face mask is required, equipment must be wiped down with disinfectant and social distancing must be adhered to while working out, Burgos said.

“We want the Marines and residents of Quantico to be able to stay fit and strong, but also maintain the safety and health of our community on base,” Burgos said.

Marine fitness and High Intensity Tactical Training, or HITT centers, started opening on May 8 across Pendleton, according to the Marine Corps Community Services’ website for the base.

Workouts are also limited to an hour for active duty and face masks are required.

The Pendleton MCCS website calls for 10 feet of social distancing, while prohibiting spotting, max lifting, partner, or group or circuit training while working out.

Semper Fit fitness centers aboard Lejeune and the New River air station started to open to active-duty personnel on May 8.

“In order to best mitigate potential health and safety issues related to the COVID19 pandemic, active duty personnel will be granted limited access to Semper Fit Fitness Centers at the top of each hour and given a one-hour time limit to exercise,” MCCS Lejeune-New River, posted on their website.

MCCS Lejeune-New River said face masks will be required at all times, towel service at the gyms were suspended, gym patrons must wipe down equipment, spotting is prohibited, gym-goers must social distance, and showers, saunas and water fountains will be unavailable.

Marines check with your base’s local gym or MCCS for further details and restrictions for gym use. Not all gyms across the Corps have reopened.

Burgos also said the HITT Center and track aboard Quantico was open for patron use “with the same cleaning and distancing rules in place.”

It’s called the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle, and Marine Corps Systems Command noted in a news release that prototypes from two vendors should be ready for evaluations by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020.

The Corps says it expects a final request for prototype proposal by spring 2021.

In 2019, the Corps announced it had selected two vendors, General Dynamics and SAIC, to design and build full-scale prototypes of the new ARV vehicle.

Marine Corps Systems Command detailed in the news release that an assessment had “identified shortfalls and gaps in capability” when the legacy LAV was pitted against a peer threat.

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger has said that current light armored reconnaissance battalions across the Corps are outmoded for the high-end fight against adversaries like Russia and China.

“Light Armored Reconnaissance today is built great for another Desert Shield, Desert Storm,” Berger said previously said. “I don’t see that likelihood as being very great.”

But the top Marine noted that reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance was vital to a fight against near-peer rivals.

“No question in my mind” when going up against a capable adversary “that it pays to be spread out and dispersed,” Berger told reporters in April.

“What we have to do now is transition to a lighter footprint, more expeditionary, more in support of a littoral environment,” Berger said. The top Marine said a future LAR unit should be able to collect information even potentially offshore.

Marine Corps Systems Command said in the news release that it wants a “battle management system, enhanced vision technologies for increased situational awareness, and target tracking and engagement capabilities,” for its new ARV.

An industry day for the ARV was slated to run in May 2020 but has been pushed back to fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, the release said.

Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement that there is an anticipation of “the redeployment of the current rotation and the deployment of the next rotation” to be complete in early June.

Rankine-Galloway said there will be “phased deployments” and redeployments in May.

Marine Forces Europe and Africa said it remains “flexible in light of the dynamic global public health situation.”

Spain and Italy are two of the hardest hit countries during the ongoing pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, as of May 8 Spain has 221,447 COVID-19 cases and 26,070 deaths.

Italy has 215,858 COVID-19 cases and 29,958 deaths, while the U.K. registered 206,719 cases and 30,615 deaths, according to WHO dats.

“We are working closely with the relevant medical agencies military organizations to ensure that we are able to carry out these movements in a manner that minimizes the risk of COVID-19 exposure to our Spanish and Italian allies, stateside communities and our Marines,” Rankine-Galloway said.

Rankine-Galloway said he would not speculate on dates the movement of forces would occur, “but we are working diligently to get our deployed forces back home in a safe manner.”

Upon return to the U.S. and respective duty stations service members with the Marine Africa task force will begin 14 days of restricted movement in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rankine-Galloway explained.

Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response 20.1 deployed to Spain and Italy in Sept. 2019 and got stuck in limbo after their return date was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns and a Defense Department travel ban.

The Africa crisis response task force continues to train conducting “local field exercises, live-fire weapons ranges and non-lethal weapons training,” Rankine-Galloway said.

The crisis response unit is “postured to respond to a broad range of military operations in the U.S. Africa Command region, including U.S. Embassy reinforcement, fixed-site security, non-combatant evacuation operations” among other missions, Rankine-Galloway explained.

Lt. Gen. Pat White, the commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters Friday that while ISIS has sought to exploit the pandemic, attacks carried out by the Islamic extremist group are on par with last year’s tally.

White said that ISIS claimed 152 attacks in April 2019 and there were 151 claimed attacks in April 2020. But CNN reported, citing a U.S. defense official, that ISIS has increased attacks in recent weeks.

The increased attacks by the terror group come as Iraqi forces have been forced to divert resources and manpower to enforce curfews due to COVID-19, CNN reported.

White said that the curfews may have actually had a negative impact on ISIS fighters and their ability to launch attacks. The curfews “constrained the ability of an adversary to move above ground,” he said.

Anyone moving at night or during the day “became an easy target,” White said.

White explained that ISIS has “failed miserably” to achieve recently stated goals, and that the jihadi group was unable to capitalize on recent operational pauses due to COVID-19.

“I was surprised that Daesh did not take advantage of some of the pause in some of the empty space that might have been an opportunity for them,” he told reporters.

White also noted that recent attacks have lacked sophistication of the ISIS organization that once held sway over vast territory across Iraq and Syria from 2016 to 2017.

“What we have seen is that the attacks we have been witnessing here over the past weeks are inconsistent with an organization that we knew of in the past,” he explained.

During the height of ISIS’ control of territory, the jihadi group was capable of launching “complex” attacks using bomb-laden vehicles, small arms and rockets all “simultaneously,” White said.

White said now the majority of attacks are small arms, rifles and mortars with no VBIEDs.

White acknowledged that COVID-19 did slow the coalition down “a little bit.”

But partner forces are continuing to put pressure on ISIS while U.S. troop rotations are continuing with implemented safety guidelines and quarantines to stem the spread of the virus.

White said the U.S. military was “proceeding forward with most of our rotational forces that were already planned.”

Marine Corps Col. Peter D. Huntley, the current deputy commander of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, was nominated to pick up a star to brigadier general.

Before joining the Marines and becoming a Raider commander, Huntley enlisted in the Army and served with the Rangers before being honorably discharged in 1987, according to his official bio.

He was commissioned an officer in the Corps in 1991. Huntley served with Royal Marines in the Balkans and during the early days of the U.K.’s fight in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, his bio reads.

The Corps is also shaking up its Pacific command.

The DoD announced the current commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Lt. Gen. Lewis A. Craparotta, was nominated to lead Training and Education Command.

The current deputy commandant for aviation, Lt. Gen. Steven R. Rudder, was nominated to head up Marine Corps Forces Pacific Command.

Maj. Gen. Mark R. Wise will fill the vacant deputy commandant for aviation slot as the DoD announced his nomination for a third star Wednesday. Wise is currently the deputy commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.