Military

McMaster: Army Must Prioritize Close-Combat Capability

While equipping the soldier doesn’t give Congress and the American public a sexy vehicle, aircraft or weapon to admire, McMaster said modernization dollars need to be focused to the soldier at the squad level. 

His reasoning is that the Army will operate in what it calls “Anti-Access Area Denial” – or A2/AD – environments and, in the future, all domains in which the US military fights will be contested. 

The Army, he said, is focused on establishing the squad-level unit as a foundation of the “decisive force,” which means “the ability to give our infantry and small units the mobility, protection and lethality they need.” 

That could mean equipping the Army with the revolutionary XM25 precision-guided grenade launcher and other advanced weapons like the Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System (LMAMS), McMaster said. But it could also mean giving soldiers the ability to target, locate and get fires into the fight quickly, he added.