The National Interest (The National Interest) magazine reported on the 27th that the U.S. Marine Corps has a new goal: to sink Chinese (Communist) ships. The Marine Corps is to become an extension of U.S. naval power projection in the Pacific.
Here’s what you need to remember: While some details of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) are unclear, manufacturer Kongsberg says its range is greater than 100 nautical miles, or 185 kilometers, and that the NSM does not fly in a top-down attack mode, but can fly at “very low sea-skimming altitudes The Naval Strike missile does not fly in a topside attack mode, but can fly at “very low sea level” at high subsonic speeds to avoid enemy radar.
Figure: Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
As part of a massive shift in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) from a “second land force” to an extension of naval power projection in the Pacific, the Marines are preparing to take down Chinese communist ships and aircraft carriers. By adapting platforms already in use by other services, the USMC hopes to quickly develop a robust anti-ship capability.
Here’s how.
Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System)
A relatively new approach to anti-ship operations being developed by the Marine Corps involves an unmanned, land-based UAV – the Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS).NMESIS pairs the Navy’s new Naval Strike Missile, a sea-skimming anti-ship missile, with an unmanned Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Vehicle). The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle has no cockpit space and can be operated remotely, possibly from any of the islands in the western Pacific segment, and will provide a reliable and fast-moving anti-ship capability.
Photo: Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)
Although the U.S. Navy already has the land-based strike capability of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HMARS, or HMS), this mobile multiple-launch rocket platform has difficulty striking non-fixed targets such as moving ships. The Navy Strike Missile, on the other hand, is highly mobile.
While some details about the Navy Strike missile are unknown, manufacturer Kongsberg says its range is greater than 100 nautical miles, or 185 kilometers. Rather than flying in a top-attack mode, the Navy Strike Missile can fly at “very low sea-skimming altitudes” and at high subsonic speeds to avoid enemy radar. During the terminal phase of flight, it can also perform “high-acceleration terminal maneuvers” to evade anti-missile defenses.
In December, the Marine Corps successfully test-fired a Navy Strike Missile from a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to demonstrate the platform’s ability to carry and launch Navy Strike Missiles.
Tomahawk
Photo: Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)
Another Marine Corps program, in parallel with the Marine Expeditionary Vessel Interceptor System program, is an effort to modify the Tomahawk missile to strike ships at sea from a fixed location on land, as the U.S. withdraws from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty (IRMT) in 2019. Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) of 1987.
The treaty, signed by the United States and the former Soviet Union, prohibits both countries from deploying land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers, although this does not apply to air- and sea-launched models. Different models of Tomahawk missiles can have ranges of 1,300 to 2,500 kilometers.
While the Marine Expeditionary Cutter Interceptor System platform will provide a short-term anti-ship missile solution, in the long term, the Marine Corps hopes to complement the platform with a Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM), which will be able to strike targets from farther away than the Navy Strike Missile. from farther away than the Navy Strike Missile – perhaps forcing the Chinese Communist Navy to move even farther away. Combined with the land-based Tomahawk cruise missile, the U.S. Marine Corps is close to having several powerful new ship killers.
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