USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps stood up its first Medium-range Missile Battalion last week as the service works to integrate longer range and maritime strike capabilities across the force.

The War Zone – At the center of suspicions is a former Royal Mail ship with its own fascinating backstory, but what it was doing at the time is unclear.

US Naval War College Review – With the survivability of mobile missile launchers in question for newly established U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps multidomain task forces and Marine littoral regiments, the role of countering intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in the Pacific may prove crucial to preventing sea denial from the land in future conflicts.

US Marines – How Marine rifle squads plan To fight future wars dominated by drones.

USNI News – Marines are learning how to 3D print raiding craft and attack drones while in theater as part of recent exercises in Hawaii, Japan and South Korea.

War on the Rocks – Uncrewed amphibious forces obviate the traditional and gravest risks of an amphibious assault. Those nations that adapt to this reality can execute such assaults as a viable course of action during future military operations.  

USNI News – A specialized contingent of Marines have operated in the Northern Philippines over the last three months, honing their ability to monitor maritime movements and lock down strategic waters with anti-ship missiles.

Naval News – American lawmakers want to fund a U.S. Marine Corps test of General Atomics’ Bullseye cruise missile in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. 

USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps concluded two bilateral exercises last week in the first island chain, which overlapped to demonstrate the service’s “Two MEFs Abreast” strategy. 

USNI News – Marine anti-ship missile launchers and air defense rolled off contracted Philippine commercial transport vessels onto an island in the middle of the Luzon Strait near Taiwan during drills earlier this month.

Naval News – A Japan-based U.S. Marine Corps unit designed to lock down maritime chokepoints and sink naval vessels has deployed the first forward-based American anti-ship missiles along the first island chain this week. 

Naval News – Two new pieces of equipment have recently joined the ranks of the US Marine Corps (USMC): the NMESIS – short for Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System – and the MADIS (which stands for Marine Air Defense Integrated System). Both items were put through their paces in the Philippines in the multinational Exercise Balikatan held from 20 April to 8 May 2026.

USNI News – A specialized group of Marines operating in SOUTHCOM will now support Operation Southern Spear, the U.S. campaign to stop maritime drug trafficking, as the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit heads home.

USNI News – Marine Rotational Force-Darwin 26 was recently certified as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, marking the first MRF-D unit to earn the certification since the rotational force was established in 2011.

Breaking Defense – Navy and Marine Corps leaders said they are considering shaking up the 36-month Optimized Fleet Response plan, in lieu of a longer cycle that can accommodate two deployments.

The War Zone – Ground Combat Element 2040 offers hints into how the Marines expect to fight in a future dominated by AI and autonomous weapons.

USNI News – The Marine Corps is preparing to deploy Marines on specialty platforms like the Expeditionary Fast Transport and the Expeditionary Sea Base to meet combatant commander demands in the Caribbean.

USNI News – A class of landing vessels designed by a Dutch firm – first built in the United Arab Emirates and debuted by the Nigerian Navy – will become the mainstay of U.S. Marine Corps and Australian Defense Force amphibious operations across the Indo-Pacific Region in the coming decades. 

USNI News – American missile systems were deployed last week to a remote Luzon Strait island 100 miles south of Taiwan as part of Washington and Manila’s Balikatan 2026 military drills.

Defense News – The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy are collaborating to boost the nation’s current inadequate amphibious fleet size, according to the top-ranked U.S. Marine Corps officer.

USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps is extending the deployment of Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF-SEA) to the Philippines to focus on cooperation with the country’s military, according to a Tuesday announcement.

War on the Rocks – If the whole point of seizing Kharg — operationally feasible — is to crush or significantly degrade Iran’s ability to disrupt oil traffic through the strait, it may not work because Iran will still have asymmetric military capabilities to do just that.

The War Zone – The F-35Cs, operating from land bases, look set to join a Marine combat capability that is about to balloon in size in the Middle East.