The U.S. Marine Corps’ Long Range Fires (LRF) launcher, built around a single-cell Mark 41 VLS cell for Tomahawk missiles on a ROGUE-Fires carrier vehicle, has been cancelled due to concerns over maneuverability in littoral and austere environments.
The decision was unveiled in the Corps’ FY2026 budgets unveiled this week.
LRF was first introduced to the USMC in 2023 when the first battery was stood up at Camp Pendleton, California. With it came four LRF weapon systems delivered to Long Range Missile Battery A, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, offering the force an additional, longer ranged arm to strike ships from shore and inland.
Naval News previously reported that the U.S. Marine Corps were planning to field 56 launchers with a mix of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) and Maritime Strike Tomahawks (MST) by FY2028.
Despite the benefits of longer range, the USMC concluded that the weapon platform did not meet the force’s requirements for maneuverability and deployability.
“The Marine Corps has concluded that the LRF system was not able to be employed in austere, expeditionary, littoral environments and has made the decision to terminate the program.”
U.S. Marine Corps FY2026 Budget Documentation
The launchers delivered to the Corps will be removed from service with Tomahawk Block V and Tomahawk MST transferred to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army respectively, according to the released budget documents. The Corps is not purchasing any Tomahawks in its FY2026 budget.
Despite the cuts to LRF, the U.S. Marine Corps is pushing harder to deliver shore-based anti-ship capabilities, significantly increasing procurement of NMESIS compared to FY2025 with the start of procurement for 36 Block II NMESIS launchers which add unspecified new capabilities over Block I and Block 0 launchers. Possible improvements include M-Code GPS receivers, one-to-many Fire Control software, and one-to-many Leader/Follower software. Deliveries of the new variant are expected to begin in 2028.
“The increase [of funding] from FY 2025 to FY 2026 is due to the initiation of the NMESIS ROGUE-Fires Carrier Block II procurement including unit cost increase as a result of engineering change proposals (ECPs) for increased capabilities.”
U.S. Marine Corps FY2026 Budget Documentation
The Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, used by NMESIS, is slated to receive several new range extension modifications to improve reach.
In FY2025, the U.S. Marine Corps completed designs for extended range missile modifications and tested a more energy dense fuel. The force is planning to begin tests of these modifications (both hardware and software) in FY2026 with the purchase of test equipment. It is also planning to refine flight profiles and endgame maneuvers for better fuel efficiency and enhanced lethality respectively.
“FY 2026 Base Plans: Purchase test assets and begin testing of hardware and software enhancements. Develop more fuel efficient flight profile options and end game survivability to be incorporated into the weapon system. These improvements will both increase maximum available range and weapon effectiveness. Conduct initial analysis of a missile data link.”
U.S. Marine Corps FY2026 Budget Documentation
The Corps also plans to stand up additional batteries, adding funding to reflect the move. Defense News reported in April that the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment and The Marine artillery schoolhouse were slated to receive NMESIS in coming months.
For HIMARS, the force has allocated over $500 million for the initial procurement of 108 Extended Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) which offer twice the range of the current Standard Range GMLRS (SR GMLRS). ER GMLRS is also primed to receive a seeker to enable anti-ship capability if the Republican-led reconciliation bill passes. The USMC also identifies the U.S. Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) as a future candidate for long range anti-ship capability.
Ultimately, the Corps is committed to the further development of what is expected to be an extended range NSM, as well as the future developments for the HIMARS MLRS Family of Munitions (MFoM) that aim to deliver maritime seekers to several long range missiles.
Naval News has reached out to the U.S. Marine Corps for further details on NMESIS Block II and the notional NSM-ER.
