Marine Corps establishes its first medium-range missile battalion

Marines got their first dedicated missile battalion this month, built around its powerful anti-ship NMESIS weapons system.

The Marine Corps officially redesignated 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division from an artillery unit into its first medium-range missile battalion. The ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, came as the force works to modernize its structure and prepare for potential conflicts with peer or near-peer adversaries where coastal defense will play a major role.

“The requirement for the Marine Corps to have a land-based capability to conduct sea denial was identified as a crucial step to facilitate the maritime component commanders to fight for sea control,” Lt. Col. Joseph Mozzi, the battalion’s commanding officer, said in the Marine Corps’ announcement.

As such, the first-of-its-kind Marine battalion will be built around the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, weapons platform. Mozzi described the NMESIS platform as “the Marine Corps’ emerging ground-based anti-ship missile capability, and it will also be a ground-based long-range precision fires platform.” 

The weapons system, built onto a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle base, is a remotely operated platform that can fire two Naval Strike Missiles. The missiles can hit more than 100 miles out. Paired with the rest of the NMESIS system, it allows Marines to set up powerful and mobile coastal defense capabilities to use against enemy ships.

3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd Marine Division first received the NMESIS platform in 2024, although not at a battalion level. This year, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment in Okinawa, Japan, was given NMESIS, alongside the Marine Air Defense Integrated Systems, or MADIS. The missile system has been deployed in training exercises in the Pacific, such as drills in the Philippines.

The redesignation and shift in armament come as the Marine Corps transforms itself as part of the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 plan. That plan, among other overhauls tot he force, calls for expanding the Marine Corps’ forward-deployed elements and boosting anti-ship capabilities to deter coastal attacks.

According to the Marine Corps, 10th Marine Regiment will still operate howitzers in another battalion. The regiment’s commander noted in the announcement that the newer NMESIS-focused battalion will complement existing artillery capabilities rather than replace them.