Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, conducted their first testing firing of a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS). According to the press release, the test took place last month at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in California.
This marks the third firing of the Raytheon-built NSM from the Oshkosh Defense’s Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicle. The first live fire took place in November 2020, while the second took place in August of 2021 during Large Scale Exercise 21.
About NMESIS
NMESIS is a centerpiece of the USMC’s Force Design 2030, which is centered around reorienting the Corps for a potential conflict in the Western Pacific. NMESIS will allow units such as Marine Littoral Regiments (MLR) to deny coastal areas and other key chokepoints to the enemy. Owing to its compact and unmanned launcher design based on a JLTV chassis, the system gives Littoral Combat Teams (LCT) greater flexibility and enhances unit survivability.
NMESIS batteries are composed of 18 launchers which are separated into two platoons of nine launchers each. The platoons are further subdivided into three sections of three launchers each. The USMC plans to field 14 batteries of which three batteries will be deployed to MLRs while 11 will be deployed to the CONUS in support of rotational MEU deployments.
The first unit to declare operational capability with the system will be the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment in the fourth quarter of 2023. More units will be receiving launchers and reloads over the coming years. The USMC plans to declare Initial Operating Capability (IOC) with the system once four batteries are fully equipped by 2025. Once the USMC fields all of the 14 planned medium-range missiles (MML) batteries in 2030, the system will reach its full operational capability (FOC) milestone.
NSM is produced by Raytheon Missile & Defense in the United State in partnership with the original equipment maker Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Alongside the Marine Corps, the missile was selected by the U.S. Navy following the Over-The-Horizon Weapon System (OTH WS) competition in 2018. The U.S. Navy plans to field the system on its Constellation-class frigates and is currently deploying it on littoral combat ships.
About the RGM-184A NSM
The NSM is a modern multi-mission cruise missile that is meant to strike defended maritime and land targets. It has a range of 100-nmi (185 km) when flying in a Lo-Lo flight path aided by its onboard inertial and terrain-following guidance setup, which is supplemented by GPS.
The missile incorporates stealth features that reduce its signature such as an S-ducted serrated inlet, flush mounted panels and mid-body chines. The missile also incorporates a passive dual-band infrared seeker for terminal homing, this allows the missile to go after targets without setting off any electronic warfare (EW) systems.
The Royal Norwegian Navy was the launch customer and operates the NSM on its Skjold-class corvettes and Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. Outside of its origin country, NSM has been a major export success, The Netherlands became the 11th and latest customer of the Naval Strike Missile in December 2022, joining the navies of Poland, Malaysia, Germany, the United States (for both the US Navy and USMC), Romania, Canada, Australia, Spain and the UK.
