Marines experiment with telemaintenance in MR for battlefield repairs
Marines are experimenting using mixed reality to link skilled technicians and Marines in the field to maintain complicated equipment via telemaintenance.
The 2nd Marine Logistics Group, under the direction of Brig. Gen. Michael McWilliams, the chief of Marine Corps Logistics direction, started experimenting in March, according to what he told those in attendance at the Modern Day Marine Expo recently.
This has enormous potential effects throughout the force, McWilliams said.
The Corps aims to deploy small, self-sufficient teams around the Pacific and other places, which is why they are making this move. It will also be upon the Marines on duty to repair anything that breaks.
Telemaintenance work will be spread across Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, units throughout the summer, with the goal of expanding it throughout the Marine Corps, according to McWilliams.
Maj. Gen. Keith Reventlow further said that instead of having to bring malfunctioning gear home to the depot for restoration, working with Marines in the line of duty with depot-level expertise on weaponry keeps that equipment functioning where it is critical.
Marines are wearing the expert technician’s and maintainer’s mixed reality eyewear. According to Reventlow, in this manner, everyone may see the same image and the specialist can guide the Marine through the steps necessary to diagnose or fix a problem.
Reventlow pointed out that the Marines are not the first to do telemaintenance, however. During their conflict with Russia, the Army spent time helping Ukrainian administrators by providing remote access to repair equipment near or on the ground.
Additionally, according to a 2020 study from the U.S. Naval Institute, the Navy started trying telemaintenance on its aircraft transports.
Sending goods back might not be a possibility in the disputed logistical environment that Marines plan to battle in.
Supplying Marines with supplies and repair parts is similarly difficult.
A kill web, in which numerous gunmen and detectors via a web-like network optimise the best tool for hitting the target in question, has replaced the Corps’ previous attacking and attacking techniques in the past few years. The kill chain was a linear sequence of steps for locating, tracking, aiming for, and eliminating dangers.
Assistant Deputy Commandant of Combat Development and Integration, Brig. Gen. Phillip Frietze, described it as sort of like Amazon that is supercharged and deadly.
Using beans, shots, dressings, and blood, logistical chiefs are adopting a similar strategy.
When Frietze led the 1st Marine Logistics Group in the Pacific in 2023, the group used companion, business, military, and American supply hubs to create a maintenance chain that ran from Darwin, Australia to the Philippines.
According to Frietze, the web now seeks blood supplies nearby for crises rather than importing them from outside the area.
Converging data from the inventory also helps the web idea, according to Frietze.