{"id":43600,"date":"2019-02-20T00:18:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T00:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/20\/the-corps-wants-ship-sinking-missiles-so-marines-can-strike-from-the-shore\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:34:59","slug":"the-corps-wants-ship-sinking-missiles-so-marines-can-strike-from-the-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2019\/02\/20\/the-corps-wants-ship-sinking-missiles-so-marines-can-strike-from-the-shore\/","title":{"rendered":"The Corps wants ship-sinking missiles so Marines can strike ships from the shore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the Corps prepares for future warfare in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean with tech adept forces, the Marines are looking at a host of technologies to help sink enemy ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breaking Defense <\/a>reported that the Corps kicked off a program dubbed the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NEMSIS, which is looking at ship killing missiles fired from ground-based vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a ground component to the maritime fight. We\u2019re a naval force in a naval campaign; you have to help the ships control sea space. And you can do that from the land,\u201d Gen. Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, told USNI News <\/a>Friday at WEST 2019 conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarines\u2019 traditional mission is the seizure and securing of advance naval bases for the prosecution of the naval campaign. But if the air space is more contested and you want to be able to keep ships away at some distance because they\u2019ve got long-range strike, you\u2019ve got to be able to strike them,\u201d Neller told USNI News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A product image demonstrating the Naval Strike Missile being fired from a truck. (Image courtesy of Kongsberg.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Breaking Defense, the Corps is interested in three missiles: Lockheed Martin\u2019s Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, Raytheon\u2019s Naval Strike Missile and Boeing\u2019s Harpoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed was recently awarded a $172 million contract for its air version of the LRASM for the Navy and Air Force, according to a company release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raytheon\u2019s Naval Strike Missile can find and take out targets at nearly 100 nautical miles, according to a description on the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And variants of the Harpoon boast a 500-pound warhead and a range in excess of 67 nautical miles, according to Boeing\u2019s description on the company website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brig. Gen. Christian Wortman, commander of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, described the Corps\u2019 push for an anti-ship missile at the West 2019 conference as a \u201crelatively near-term capability,\u201d USNI reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Corps looks for ship sinking missiles, the force is also trying to extend the range of its existing arsenal of rocket artillery and weapon systems to help the force survive in any potential fight in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\t