War on the Rocks – In just over 20 years, the Marine Corps has gone from being America’s reliable middleweight force in readiness to more of a secondary, general purpose backup force. Today, marines are more likely to find themselves assisting special operations teams and U.S. Army crisis response task forces than spearheading operations. Without meaningful change, a dangerous question resurfaces: “Why do we need a Marine Corps?”

War on the Rocks – Marines have spent too much energy in the past five years debating the merits of former Commandant David H. Berger’s Force Design 2030 plan. Force Design is now part of the Marine Corps. It is time for all marines on and off active duty to set aside their disagreements and focus forward, towards the vision articulated by current Commandant Eric M. Smith. And it is time for the allies of the Marine Corps to lean in and support this reorientation. The U.S. Marine Corps is facing a relatively slow moving but all too real existential threat.

The War Zone – The Ancillary Surface Craft will help the Marines further develop their island-hopping playbook until larger landing ships arrive, but time is ticking.

The War Zone – Harpoons would give AC-130Js a dedicated tool for engaging enemy ships and fit well with plans to boost their capabilities with new radars.

The War Zone – The modular Red Wolf launched effects weapon could give Marine AH-1Zs a key new standoff strike tool and open the door to other capabilities.

War on the Rocks – Modernization as readiness is a journey that requires the Marine Corps to move out now. The service can no longer afford to move at the pace of the future years’ defense plan. The horizon for pursuing advanced technologies is moving ever closer and the Marine Corps can longer afford to innovate at the pace of money. The commandant has been clear-eyed on how the Marine Corps will be postured for near-peer conflict, crisis response, and future warfare. Service efforts to pursue high-end intelligent systems and supporting capabilities will not only make the Marine Corps more lethal but help avoid the false dilemma of modernization versus readiness.

USNI News – Marine Corps Combat Logistics Battalions in Japan and the United States have been employing logistics supply drones inspired by drug-smuggling narco subs in recent exercises and tests.

Naval News – The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment’s Medium-Range Missile Battery will send Naval Strike Missile-equipped Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems (NMESIS) to the Luzon Strait during Balikatan 2025, marking the first-ever American anti-ship missile deployment to the strategically located Batanes Island Chain. 

USNI News – The Navy wants a Louisiana shipyard to build the first hull for the Landing Ship Medium program as part of a plan to find an off-the-shelf design to support the Marine Corps’ new island-hopping regiments, a Navy official told USNI News. The Navy also wants the data rights for a Dutch tank landing ship used by international navies.

USNI News – Last month, the Okinawa, Japan-based 12th Marine Littoral Regiment stood up the last of its subordinate units, pulling a storied combat infantry battalion into the fold of a modern front-line Marine Corps force in the Western Pacific.

Defense News – The top Marine has a key objective for the Corps: getting Marine Expeditionary Units back on full deployment schedules. But he’s going to need some help.

USNI News – The Marines are set to deploy a new rotational force to the Philippines at a major upcoming exercise. The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment will debut the new Littoral Rotational Force-Luzon at the Balikatan 2025 exercise in the Philippines.

CIMSEC – The United States Marine Corps has an outsized effect on Navy force planning. While the Navy and the Marines exhibit a sincere and genuine single team spirit conducting global naval operations, they are a fierce team of rivals when determining the requirements for amphibious ships (also known as “amphibs”), which the Navy funds for their construction and operation.

The War Zone – The Marines are working to dramatically extend the kinetic reach of their AH-1Zs to help ensure their relevance in future high-end fights.

USNI News – With the impending retirement of the aging Wright-class, the Marine Corps wants a new class of aviation logistics support ships, according to the 2025 aviation plan released this week.  The Marines currently have two aviation support ships that serve as floating repair stations with detachments of embarked Marines that can perform up-to-depot-level maintenance on Marine aircraft.

Breaking Defense – The Marine Corps is shifting the balance of F-35 Joint Strike Fightersit intends to buy, opting to purchase dozens more carrier-based variants in lieu of the short-take-off and vertical landing variant, according to the service’s new 2025 aviation plan. 

The War Zone – F-35Bs and C-17As fighting their way to, from, and out of the island is the best glimpse yet at what Pacific combat may look like for Marine Joint Strike Fighters.

The War Zone – The Navy halted the Medium Landing Ship effort last month after high cost estimates and is now seeking commercial vessel designs to move Marines in a Pacific fight.

Defense News – Nearly half of the amphibious warfare ships Marines need to deploy often are unavailable due to maintenance, according to a government watchdog. How the Navy currently manages those repairs means jarheads will continue to deploy late to the fight.

USNI News – Delayed and skipped amphibious warship maintenance has prevented Marine Corps units from training and deploying on schedule, reads a new Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday.

USNI News – Boxer and its 1,200-member crew returned Sunday to its berth at Naval Base San Diego, marking the end of an extended operational deployment that broke apart its three-ship amphibious ready group. The deployment played out differently than what Marines, sailors and their commanders had expected just a year ago.

The War Zone – If China invades Taiwan, U.S. Marine Corps units and their High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be rushed to southwestern Japanese islands near Taiwan and abutting the East China Sea, while a relatively new U.S. Army unit built in part to stop China from closing off the South China Sea would head to adjacent military bases in the Philippines.

CIMSEC – U.S. Central Command poses an opportunity for the Marine Corps. During his March 2023 testimony to the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), CENTCOM commander General Erik Kurilla stated, “God forbid there’s ever a conflict with China, but we could end up holding a lot of their economy at risk in the CENTCOM region.” In the same testimony he pointed to how “72 percent of all Chinese oil is imported. That can make them vulnerable.” Then General Kurilla zeroed in on the sea lanes within the Middle East adding, “98 percent-plus goes through by ship. That makes them vulnerable.” The Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) could be the contact and blunt force that is tasked with the mission of holding key Chinese imports at risk in the Middle East.

War on the Rocks – As highlighted in the 2024 Marine Corps tactical publication, Deception, decoy efforts will ensure force survivability and degrade adversary targeting capabilities in the modern battlespace. To succeed, the Marine Corps must disrupt enemy sensors, deny the adversary the ability to engage first, and remain agile in contested environments deep within the enemy’s weapons engagement zone, where our opponents possess significant targeting capabilities. Decoys can be introduced into the force to enhance survivability, create ambiguity in enemy targeting processes, and maintain operational advantage in future conflicts. However, as it stands now, the Marine Corps has not integrated decoy operations into doctrine, training programs, or standardized equipment across the force.

CIMSEC – As the Marine Corps prepares to contest the regional superiority of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Indo-Pacific alongside the Navy and the joint force, the service must strengthen its organic killchains and ensure that each new capability acquisition aligns to the concepts that the service must execute.