JUST IN: Marine Corps’ Littoral Capabilities are Lagging, Berger Says
6/27/2023
By Josh Luckenbaugh
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his final speech to a Modern Day Marine conference as Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. David Berger emphasized a topic he’s been messaging for months: the service’s need for increased littoral capabilities.
Specifically, the Marine Corps needs to “catch up on” Ship-To-Shore Connectors, said Berger, whose term as commandant will end in July, on June 27 during his keynote address at the conference.
“We’re behind, we got to move much faster,” Berger said of the connector program. “We lost time up front; we have to be able to make up that time.”
According to USNI News, the first connector was supposed to be delivered to the service by manufacturer Textron Systems in 2017, with initial operating capability achieved in 2020. However, after a series of delays the first connector was not delivered until 2020, and the Marine Corps now plans to reach initial operating capability sometime this year, according to the Government Accountability Office’s assessment of the program.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2023/6/27/marine-corps-littoral-capabilities-are-lagging-berger-says