JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK – FORT STORY, Va. – Two Navy hovercrafts glinted silver in the low Friday sun as they cut across the Chesapeake Bay, blasting a wake of mist 25 feet high as they headed to their new home.
Landing Craft Air Cushion 101 and 102 left the well deck of USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) to join the older LCACs of Assault Craft Unit 4. LCAC 101 and 102 are part of the Navy’s Ship to Shore and enter a testing regime before the new Textron-built craft join the Navy’s...
U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Logistics Group, return fire during a convoy training exercise in Camp Pendleton California. Oct 7, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo
This post is part of a series looking back at the top naval stories from 2021.
The Marine Corps this year continued its journey to meet Marine Corps commandant Gen. David Berger’s strategic vision for the force by pursuing systems to enable the service’s Force Design 2030 goals.
With a focus on operating in the vast region of the Indo-Pacific,...
https://news.usni.org/2021/12/27/top-stories-2021-u-s-marine-corps-acquisition
An Oshkosh-built Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicle with a Naval Strike Missile attached during a November 2020 test at Point Mugu, Calif. US Navy Photo
The Marines added two different types of anti-ship missiles for $153.8 million to the top of their $2.95 billion Unfunded Priorities List to Congress, USNI News has learned.
Number one on the list is 35 anti-ship Naval Strike Missiles for $57.8 million, followed by 48 Tactical Tomahawk long-range anti-ship and...
https://news.usni.org/2021/06/02/anti-ship-missiles-top-marines-2-95b-fiscal-year-2022-wishlist
U.S. Marines with 3d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, load CH-53E Super Stallions with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during Castaway 21.1 on Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan, March 16, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo
After honing naval integration and then exercising in the Indo-Pacific with the joint force, the Marine Corps is ready to take its new island-hopping campaign concept to the next level by drilling with international allies and partners.
The Marine Corps last month wrapped up two...
U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, currently attached to 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, demonstrate expeditionary advanced basing capabilities Oct. 7 to 8, 2020, as part of Exercise Noble Fury, from Okinawa to Ie Shima and across surrounding waters. U.S. Marine Corps Photo
As the Marine Corps reorganizes to prepare for a potential conflict with China, the service is considering three new Marine Littoral Regiments for its campaign of land warfare in the Indo-Pacific.
Th...
https://news.usni.org/2021/02/08/marines-considering-3-littoral-regiments-for-the-indo-pacific
U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, currently attached to 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, demonstrate expeditionary advanced basing capabilities Oct. 7 to 8, 2020, as part of Exercise Noble Fury, from Okinawa to Ie Shima and across surrounding waters. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps plans to officially form the new unit designed to execute its island-hopping strategy in the Indo-Pacific next fiscal year, according to a service spokesman.
Marine Corps Commandant...
https://news.usni.org/2021/01/20/marine-corps-to-stand-up-first-marine-littoral-regiment-in-fy-2022
Sea Transport Solutions Image
The Navy and Marine Corps are quickly seeking new ideas that allow Marines to support the Navy in sea control and other maritime missions, including the rapid acquisition of a light amphibious ship and a movement toward using Marine weapons while at sea.
Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the director of expeditionary warfare on the chief of naval operations’ staff (OPNAV N95), told USNI News during a Jan. 8 media call that the services are moving quickly to buy their first light...
The Bell V-247 tiltrotor is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that will combine the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, and would provide long-endurance persistent expeditionary and surveillance and fires capabilities. The Marines had been considering this type of capability for their shipboard Group 5 UAS program, MUX, before the program was restructured in mid 2020. Bell Image
This post is part of a series of stories looking...
https://news.usni.org/2020/12/29/top-stories-2020-marine-corps-acquisition
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Austin McBain, a fire support specialist with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group, monitors a radio during exercise Summer Fury 20 in Yuma, Ariz., on July 14, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
2020 was a turning-point year for the Marine Corps. After previewing changes to come in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance released last year,...
https://news.usni.org/2020/12/23/top-stories-2020-marine-corps-operations
Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group (MIG), hike during a field exercise (FEX) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. on May 28, 2020. US Marine Photo
The Marine Corps is starting to form and experiment with the littoral regiment at the heart of its modern-day island-hopping strategy, the head of Marine Corps combat development told USNI News.
The stand-up of this first Marine Littoral Regiment is among the first and most visible...
https://news.usni.org/2020/06/04/marines-testing-regiment-at-heart-of-emerging-island-hopping-future