Post by @themastersausage

Maj. Gen. David Gardner, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, said the division is preparing for large-scale air assaults that could deliver a brigade-sized force of roughly 1,500 to 2,500 soldiers. Gardner said the division expects landing areas to be contested and must create the conditions needed to move aircraft and soldiers into those areas. The 101st is incorporating drones, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and air-defense considerations into its planning for future air-assault operations. The division has used MV-22 Ospreys in training as a surrogate for lessons relevant to the planned MV-75 aircraft. The Army has not fielded the MV-75 to the 101st. The 101st Airborne Division became an air-assault division in the late 1960s, replacing its historic parachute role with helicopter-borne operations. Its mission still centers on moving soldiers rapidly by air and seizing or holding key terrain. Current conflicts have made aircraft vulnerability and drone surveillance central planning problems. Gardner’s comments describe how a major Army division is adapting its air-assault concept to that environment. This is not a deployment order or an announced combat operation. It is the 101st commander describing force design, training and likely requirements for future large-scale air assaults. The operational challenge is concrete: move a large formation by air while the enemy may be using drones, sensors, air defenses and electronic warfare to detect or disrupt the assault. This is a factual summary of the public details currently available. The key facts are who made the decision, what is actually planned or announced, and what remains unresolved. #airborne #101st #operations #army #miltok #military