I'm an Old Soldier, not a Marine, but the Army is poising to do the same thing. If I set aside my age and traditional (old fashioned?) attitudes, I have to admit that this sounds like a good idea. The replacement systems will be faster, more nimble vehicles which will deploy and control swarms of unmanned vehicles. This makes sense. There was a time when Infantry could be overwhelmed by heavily armored tanks which attacked with machine guns and a stunning "main gun". Infantry had some early weapons which attempted to counter tanks... things like bazookas and such. Thicker armor and improved tactics minimized the effects of such weapons. Artillery, traditionally an "area weapon", was not really an effective anti-armor weapon system either.
Today, with pinpoint "sensor fused weapons" delivered by air, tanks have become very vulnerable. But even more significantly, JAVELIN has arrived on the battlefield. JAVELIN is a "fire-and-forget" weapon that has changed the nature of armored warfare. Reference is often made to our six Special Forces Soldiers in three pickup trucks that inflicted such massive casualties on an Iranian tank Battalion that the Iranians were forced to surrender. Tanks have, sadly, largely become obsolete. From the original "shock and awe" system that could slice through large formations of enemy Infantry, it has become a huge target... vulnerable now to tremendously improved hostile game changing weapons like ground based JAVELIN and air delivered sensor-fused weapons.
Traditionally, an enemy faced a lethal, lumbering, scary tank whose threatening presence inflicted as much fear as damage. And there wasn't a lot that light forces could do to stop it. It was kind of like Goliath overwhelming a David, who had no effective weapons at all. Now light Infantry can stop tanks dead in their tracks. David can tear Goliath apart. So, we have come up with a new, better solution.
Infantry today can face a few tanks and remove them at extended ranges with lethality and precision. The replacement systems will change that. Now the enemy will face a swarm of ground and aerial unmanned vehicles. It'll be like a swarm of bees, only the bees are armed. Remember the old bug movies where hapless victims tried to fend off swarms of bees with rifles? Well, that scenario will soon be real in future combat.
