The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment can sink warships and other maritime targets now that it has the first operational anti-ship missile system.
Marine Corps Systems Command handed over an unspecified amount of Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems to the Hawaii-based MLR last week at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. These highly maneuverable and deployable unmanned launchers are equipped with two low-observable Naval Strike Missiles capable of reaching targets 185 kilometers away. The Marine Corps describes NMESIS’ procurement as “a critical service modernization capability requirement focused specifically on countering the nation’s pacing threat,” referring to Chinese forces.
“The NMESIS provides this Regiment a potent sea denial capability in support of our mission essential task to ‘Attack Enemy Maritime Targets.’ That capability greatly enhances the Regiment’s ability to support and integrate with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, the Fleet, the Joint Force and our Allies,” Col. John Lehane, the commanding officer of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, said in a news release.
The 3rd MLR and NMESIS are among the defining symbols of Force Design, the Marine Corps’ transformative plan to modernize amid new threats from adversaries such as China and Russia. The idea is for the unit, and its anti-ship missiles, to deploy to remote islands across the Indo-Pacific to provide targeting data to other service branches and deny strategic chokepoints and maritime areas from adversaries. In 2021, the Marine Corps identified the procurement of 14 NMESIS batteries, composed of 18 launchers each, to support both forward-deployed MLRs and rotationally-deployed Marine Expeditionary Units. Three planned long-range missile batteries equipped with the Tomahawk cruise missile will also complement NMESIS batteries.
NMESIS will be integrated into the 3rd MLR’s medium-range missile battery, a formation within the 3rd Littoral Combat Team. The service also highlighted the regiment’s organic targeting capabilities via its maritime and aerial domain awareness assets.
“Upon receipt of the NMESIS weapon system, 3d MLR has an enhanced sea denial capability and is positioned at the forefront of strategic transformation,” Lt. Col. Timothy Love, the commanding officer of the 3rd LCT, said in the release.
The arrival of the service’s first land-based anti-ship missile system to the region comes ahead of next year’s exercises in the Philippines and Japan, island nations along the so-called first island chain that traditionally see increased bilateral military activities with U.S. forces in early spring. Exercises such as the Philippines’ Balikatan and Japan’s Iron Fist include U.S. Marine Corps units deploying new equipment and tactics within strategic areas.
