The U.S. Marine Corps confirmed its intentions to stand up a new Maritime Reconnaissance Company and procure unmanned rocket launchers in the service’s annual force design update.
Equipped with multi-mission reconnaissance craft and unmanned surface vessels, the new unit is designed to “maneuver sensors and personnel in support of Marine forces operating in the littorals.”
With a service-wide shift to combat adversaries in the Indo-Pacific and across maritime features, the U.S. Marine Corps has developed formations, tactics and technologies designed to operate across the region. Among the most intensive developments has been the service’s ability to detect and track vessels for targeting and in support of joint forces. From the Philippines to Japan, the Marines have deployed sensors and missile launchers to demonstrate and test their ability against adversary warships.
This update follows previous experimentation on small boats in support of maritime operations to “fill gaps in sensor web coverage.” According to a United States Naval Institute Proceedings article by Lt. Col Brian Lusczynski, a capabilities integration officer at Headquarters Marine Corps Combat Development and Integration, the company is expected to be equipped with 18 multi-mission reconnaissance craft and 18 unmanned surface vessels.
The company’s mission seeks to enhance the maritime domain awareness capabilities of formations such as the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Lusczynski also noted the littoral maneuver capability that could be provided with the multi-mission reconnaissance craft, which are capable of carrying eight Marines and a rubber craft.
Experimentation with the small boats has been conducted by several Marine Corps units, including the 1st Light Armor Regiment and the 4th Amphibian Assault Battalion. The latter of these units, a reserve formation located in Florida, redesignated two of its companies into littoral craft companies last year.
While the unmanned boats were noted to be in a sensing only capacity by Lusczynski, the service has developed the loitering munition-armed long range unmanned surface vessel. A 2024 update also noted that the drone will “primarily serve as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.”
Aside from the Maritime Reconnaissance Company, the service also detailed its intent to procure Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) vehicles equipped with launchers capable of supporting missiles from the Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions. The service has deployed a variant of ROGUE-Fires to launch its Naval Strike Missiles, dubbed the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), and a recently canceled version capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Wisconsin-based defense contractor Oshkosh recently showed the unmanned missile launcher at the Association of the United States Army’s Global Fires Symposium. According to the service’s update, these launchers will provide “littoral fires batteries a general-support rocket capability with all current and future MFOM munitions.” These launchers could enable Marine Corps batteries to fire the same missiles found on or developed for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), such as the anti-ship capable precision strike missile.
The Marine Corps is also looking to upgrade its existing HIMARS and NMESIS launchers with improved digital fire control systems and software to improve their operation in denied, degraded, and disrupted space operating environments.
