Experts have predicted that future warfare will be conducted largely within urban and even subterranean environments, and with little-to-no sustained urban warfare experience since Vietnam’s Battle of Hue City, the Marines entered the 2000s with mostly theoretical and training-driven ideas. The Urban Warrior program and then Project Metropolis, however, became integrated with the learning from large-scale urban operations in the Middle East, resulting in drastic updates to Vietnam era tactics, organization, and equipment. In 2019, the Marines will launch Project Metropolis II, continuing this innovation in Urban Warfare and working to integrate cyber/electronic warfare and UAVs into smaller units. The Metropolis II campaign will operate under 5 objectives: 1) improving the situational awareness of small units operating in a Dense Urban Environment (DUE), 2) improvement of platoon and company level headquarters ability to quickly and accurately process information, issue direction and grant authorization, 3) expand the scope and depth of lethal engagement options available to the small units operating in a DUE, 4) improve the ability of small units to operate in and dominate subterranean environments, 5) examine and assess developing technologies to improve the ability of landing forces to operate in a DUE.
Source: How this urban warfighting experiment could transform how Marines fight in cities
