Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney discussed in a recent interview with Defense One the need for new transportation equipment to modernize the logistics capabilities of the USMC.
According to Mahoney, one of the options the service is looking into is the medium landing ship, or LSM, an amphibious vessel with 8,000 square feet of deck cargo space and the capacity to carry a crew of about 70 sailors, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.
Mahoney described LSMs as “a shore-to-shore logistics connect” meant to transport heavy cargo in scenarios where aircraft are insufficient and using large ships is not desirable.
Between 18 to 35 LSMs are expected to be acquired by the U.S. Navy for the Marine Corps.
Mahoney also said the service is looking into the autonomous low-profile vessel and medium and large autonomous drones for use in logistics.
The Marine Corps official noted that this year will see the testing and evaluation of such platforms.
