Robotic targets line Camp Lejeune’s range G-36, which opened Dec. 12. (Courtesy Ralph Petroff)
14 Dec 2020
After years of training and qualifying on traditional ranges with stationary targets, the Marine Corps has turned a new page in warfare with the certification of a sophisticated range of the future aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Designed for company-size live-fire exercises, Range Golf-36 features, among other things, trenches, surrounding woods that would provide cover for the enemy, and a design explicitly intended to incorporate lifelike robotic targets that can dodge, change direction, shout and even charge the attacking Marine Corps force. The range also features targets in areas obstructed by terrain features such as trees and grass tufts, designed to be destroyed by rockets.
Trump Threatens to Veto Defense Bill, This Time over China
President Donald Trump listens as he attends an event on Operation Warp Speed in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
14 Dec 2020
President Donald Trump has issued a new threat to veto the massive $740 billion defense policy bill, this time over unspecified concerns regarding China. The biggest winner of our new defense bill is China. I will veto! Trump said Sunday morning in an all-caps tweet.
Trump did not immediately give specifics on what part of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act prompted his new veto threat. Much of the rest of his Sunday morning Twitter feed was devoted to more charges that the election was stolen from him by fraud.