XPost: sci.military.naval, alt.war.world-war-three, or.politics
XPost: seattle.politics, alt.economics

from https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/03/usmcs-first-anti-ship-littoral-combat-team-established-in-okinawa/

USMC’s First Anti-Ship Littoral Combat Team Established in Okinawa
Published on 09/03/2025
By Carter Johnston
In News
Littoral Combat Team
U.S. Marine Corps Lt Col. Jacob Godby uncase the 12th Littoral Combat
Team colors during a designation ceremony of 12th Marines to 12th MLR on
Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Mar. 5, 2025. 12th MLR is designed to
deploy on short notice, persist inside an engagement area, and degrade
an adversary’s decision-making ability. 12th MLR’s presence in the Indo-Pacific ensures the Marine Corps maintains advanced warfighting capabilities, close proximity to potentially contested waterways, able
to deter and defeat potential adversaries. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by
LCpl Kindsey Calvert)
Share



The U.S. Marine Corps’ 12th Littoral Combat Team (LCT) will field the
first forward deployed NMESIS unmanned anti-ship battery. The 12th LCT
is the third and final subordinate element of the 12th Marine Littoral
Regiment based out of Camp Hansen, Okinawa (Japan), and it’s part of a growing Marine Corps force dedicated to delivering medium to long-range
area denial capabilities to the First Island Chain.

A designation ceremony at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, marked the induction of
the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment’s final subordinate unit, led by Lt.
Col. Jacob Godby. Godby took command of the 12th LCT in December 2024
and assumed formal command in February 2025.

12th LCT is the latest U.S. Marine Corps force to transition to a littoral-oriented force, following a trend of Indo-Pacific
reorientations under the Corps’ Force Design 2030 vision. For 12th LCT,
it means reorienting the legacy of 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
into a reinforced infantry battalion with an attached unmanned anti-ship missile battery.

The anti-ship missile battery will consist of 18 NMESIS unmanned ground vehicles separated into two platoons. NMESIS is built off the Remotely
Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires multirole chassis
capable of launching two RGM-184A Naval Strike Missiles each.

Rogue Fires Unmanned JLTV Pitched to the U.S. Army
Oshkosh Defense ROGUE Fires unmanned JLTV on display at AUSA 2024. ROGUE
Fires features a modular payload system that will eventually allow for
the firing of a family of systems, including the MLRS Family of
Munitions (MFOM) currently fired by HIMARS units.
U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Peter Eltringham, commanding officer of the
12th Marine Littoral Regiment, explained the added capability 12th LCT
and NMESIS will bring to the force during the redesignation ceremony in
a media statement.

“We bring this combat power to Okinawa to be able to deliver it in the
eyes of our adversaries and ensure we can bring it to the decisive point
on the battlefield. We do this alongside our Japanese ground, air, and
maritime Self-Defense Force partners, because there is nothing more
powerful than this alliance in this theater.”

U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Peter Eltringham
12th LCT has not received its NMESIS launchers yet according to
officials familiar with the matter. When it does, it will mirror the
structure of 3d LCT, 3d MLR based out of Oahu, Hawaii. 12th LCT will
receive the first delivery of launchers in a similar ceremony to the one
held in November 2024 for 3d LCT.


U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment,
3d Marine Division, participate in a ceremony on Marine Corps Base
Hawaii, Nov. 26, 2024. At the ceremony, 3d MLR officially received the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System from Marine Corps
Systems Command. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons)
The 12th MLR also operates four HIMARS batteries with the 3d Battalion,
capable of launching the MLRS Family of Munitions (MFOM), including the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) which has proven its
ability as an anti-ship missile in a U.S. Army test.

Tags
Marine Littoral Regiment, NMESIS, USMC
Picture of Carter Johnston
Carter Johnston
Carter Johnston a freshman at George Washington University's Elliott
School for International Affairs in the Class of 2028. He is based in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois. His interests include shipyard infrastructure in the United States, ongoing modernization efforts of
the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and the politics that lead to their
success domestically and globally.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)