Marines with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division have an expanded arsenal. This week the regiment received the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, also known as the NMESIS weapons system.
Beyond the ominous name, the NMESIS is designed to boost the Marine Corps’ anti-ship capabilities, particularly for potential conflicts in the Pacific theater, where Marine units would be expected to deploy to several islands throughout the ocean. It’s the first time the anti-ship missile system, which has been in testing for several years, is entering the field. The NMESIS will be operated by the 3d Marine Littoral Regiment’s Medium-Range Missile Battery, based out of Oahu in Hawaii. 3d Marine Littoral Regiment officially took custody of the weapon earlier this week.
The ground-based weapons system is meant to be fielded for coastal and littoral defense. The NMESIS fires Naval Strike Missiles, capable of hitting targets 115 miles away. The medium-range missile, used via NMESIS, is meant to take out enemy ships approaching any island, either for landing or naval bombardment purposes.
“The NMESIS provides this Regiment a potent sea denial capability in support of our mission essential task to ‘Attack Enemy Maritime Targets,’” 3d Marine Littoral Regiment commander Col. John G. Lehane said at the event at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. “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.”
One major aspect of the NMESIS is that it is designed to be operated remotely. The missile launchers are mounted on an uncrewed Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. Marines controlling the vehicles and firing the missiles will be away from the systems themselves, as the launchers would in turn be targeted.
3d MLR was originally set to receive the NMESIS system at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, but that was pushed back. The Marines Corps plans to field a NMESIS system with every Marine Littoral Regiment, with several stationed throughout the Pacific.
The system’s deployment is the latest in a series of efforts by the wider American military to build up defense capabilities throughout the Pacific theater. That has ranged from building up missile defense and overall military infrastructure on Guam to restoring decades-old airfields on islands that saw some of the fiercest fighting during World War II. Other changes have included sending newer and more advanced aircraft to units already active in Japan.
Within the United States, that includes the NMESIS fielding, as well as recent exercises in Alaska where the U.S. Army showed how quickly it can field infantry and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems into the Aleutian Islands.
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