U.S. Marines Have New Ship-Killing Weapons System to Counter China

Conservative News DailyJanuary 18, 2023

The Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems (NMESIS) will equip the Marine Littoral Regiments the United States will establish in Okinawa or Guam over the next few years. This will enable the Marines to destroy any enemy ships.

NMESIS is being tested at the moment, but it will be delivered to you on time. 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment in Hawaii Ashley M. Calingo, spokesperson for Marine Corps Systems Command, stated that the fiscal year ended in 2023.

Each Marine Littoral Regiment will consist of approximately 2,000 Marines and sailors. It also includes an anti-ship battery using NMESIS. This consists of Naval Strike Missiles with a range up to 115 miles mounted on unmanned Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.

Joe McPherson is the program manager for Long Range Fires at Marine Corps Systems Command. in a Sept. 2021 Marine Corps news release.

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Over the past 20 to 30 years, America’s potential adversaries have invested heavily in weapons that are meant to destroy U.S. ships and aircraft, McPherson said in the news release. One of NMESIS’ advantages over other U.S. military weapons is that ground-based launchers have proven to be hard for enemies to find in past wars, he said.

“This is what NMESIS brings to the fight — a launcher that is survivable inside the enemy’s weapons engagement zone,” McPherson stated.

The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (M3Rd Marine Littoral Regiment) was activated in February 2021. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the 12th Artillery Regiment from Okinawa would be reorganized as the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment by 2020.

Marine Corps plans to move the 4th Marine Regiment (Okinawa to Guam) to Guam. It is expected to be reorganized as the 4th Marine Littoral Regiment by 2027. the Washington Post reported.

If the United States needed to protect Japan from China’s navy, Marines from littoral regiments could deploy to remote islands in the PacificStacie Peettyjohn, director for the defense program at Center for a New American Studies in Washington, D.C., stated that they could attack Chinese ships from there using NMESIS.

Pettyjohn explained to Task & Purpose that NMESIS is only effective against Chinese ships close to Japan because the Naval Strike Missiles are limited in range. If China invaded TaiwanTo sink any Chinese invasion ships, Marines equipped with NMESIS must be present on the island.

Moreover, a recent wargame held by the Center for Strategic & International Studies According to retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian, a think tank that assessed a Chinese invasion on Taiwan in 2026 found Marine Littoral Regiments only succeeded if they were deployed forward to Taiwan prior to the war started.

Cancian explained that the wargame resulted in a littoral regiment not being able to be resupplied with troops after the war started. It was also shown that Chinese forces consistently destroyed Marine units from Okinawa who tried to move to Taiwan, or to expeditionary bases in Pacific after hostilities began.

The Marine Littoral Regiment concept is part of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger’s Force Design 2030 plan, which is meant to make the Corps lighter and expeditionary enough to win a war against China.

However, Berger’s plan has run into criticism from prominent retired Marine general officersAll inclusive retired Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, who completely upended the U.S. military’s assumptions about its adversaries in the 2002 Millennium Challenge wargame.

Van Riper stated to Task & Purpose Friday that the idea of Marine Littoral Regiments using NMESIS as a weapon against Chinese ships was a possibility. “dumber than dirt.”

“This is Wake Island all over again,” Van Riper spoke of the World War II battle that saw Marines being overwhelmed by a Japanese invasion.

First, the Marine Littoral Regiments should be transported to these islands using light amphibious warships. These ships are still in design phase. already cost more than expectedVan Riper confirmed that. The ships would only be capable of moving at around 15 knots compared to Navy destroyers that can move at 30 knots. Additionally, they would be armed with a 25mm and 30mm cannon as well as.50 caliber machine gun for self-defense.

Even if Marines could deploy littoral regiments to shore, Chinese ships can still sail more than 115 m from those islands. That would put them out reach of NMESIS.

“There are very few chokepoints in that expanse of water that aren’t vastly greater than that,” Van Riper stated.

It is still to be determined if Marine Littoral Regiments with NMESIS could make a difference against China in a war or if their capabilities would soon be lost.