The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), stationed on the island of Okinawa, has received the first units of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) and the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS). NMESIS is an anti-ship cruise missile launcher with the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), which can be deployed both semi-autonomously and fully autonomously.
The same platform houses the air defense system MADIS, which consists of a vehicle with radar, electronic warfare and command-and-control (EloKa) systems, as well as a 30-mm cannon, a Stinger multi-launch system and additional EloKa capabilities. Both systems form part of the core of the concept of the Marine Littoral Regiments within the controversial reform known as Force Design 2030, which was initiated in 2020 by then-USMC commander General David H. Berger.
The Marine Corps practiced with the new systems in the Philippines
The MLR concept envisions rapidly moving units among the numerous islands of the Pacific region to hinder operations by adversaries such as China. To this end, the previously conventional 3rd and 12th Marine Regiments, each organized into three infantry battalions, adopted a structure comprising a Littoral Combat Team, a Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, and a Littoral Logistics Battalion. The planned reorganization of the 4th Marine Regiment was scrapped last year.
A Littoral Combat Team consists, alongside the headquarters and supply company, of three infantry companies and an anti-ship missile battery with 18 missiles. This formation is intended to dispatch reinforced platoons to forward operating bases. The Littoral Anti-Air Battalion is to perform, in addition to airspace surveillance and air defense duties, the support of aircraft at such bases. The Littoral Logistics Battalion comprises two logistics companies and a support company.
NMESIS and MADIS were already deployed by the 3rd MLR in May during Balikatan 26 on the Philippines, with the anti-ship systems also transported between the islands of the Batan Archipelago by United States Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and United States Army landing craft. MADIS demonstrated its drone-defense capabilities in particular.
