Marines on Okinawa began training with NMESIS missile system this summer

A military missile defense system mounted on a camouflaged truck positioned in a grassy field, with mountains and forest visible in the background under an overcast sky.

Members of the 3rd Marine Division training with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, July 28, 2025. (Lucas Lu/U.S. Marine Corps)

Marines on Okinawa began training in July with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, in preparation for the system’s future deployment to the island, according to the service.

The first system arrived July 10, the 3rd Marine Division said Wednesday in a news release. The 12th Medium-Range Missile Battery, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, alongside the Hawaii-based 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, trained with NMESIS from July 21-28 at the Central Training Area on Camp Hansen, division spokesman 1st Lt. Joshua Figueredo told Stars and Stripes in a follow-up email.

The 3rd Littoral Regiment, which first deployed NMESIS in April during the Balikatan exercise in the Philippines, shared information on how to operate the system, Figueredo said.

The division formally received NMESIS on Nov. 26, according to the release.

Okinawa-based units are slated to begin officially fielding NMESIS next spring, Marine Corps Systems Command spokeswoman Deidra Knight told Stars and Stripes last month.

A military service member in a camouflage uniform operates equipment inside a military vehicle with another service member visible in the background.

Lance Cpl. Bowden Miles trains with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, July 28, 2025. (Lucas Lu/U.S. Marine Corps)

The exercise simulated an operation to attack and destroy enemy ships in contested seas as part of expeditionary advanced base operations, according to the release. Marines did not conduct live-fire training but rehearsed missile-firing procedures, Figueredo said.

“These training opportunities with the NMESIS validated the effectiveness of our collaborative defensive architecture,” battery commander Capt. Kurt James said in the release. “We refined our ability to coordinate responses to potential threats, reinforcing our commitment to regional security.”

Additional training has taken place on Hansen since then, base spokesman Capt. Kazuma Engelkemier wrote Wednesday in an email that did not provide details.

NMESIS is a key asset for littoral regiments of about 2,000 Marines, created under the Force Design restructuring plan to conduct stand-in force operations. Such units operate within range of enemy fire to seize and hold islands and deny hostile vessels access to nearby seas.

The system mounts Naval Strike Missiles on joint light tactical vehicles. Each missile costs $2.194 million, according to a November 2022 Naval News report.

While not a “game-changer” due to its “relatively short range” and subsonic speed, NMESIS is “more useful in ‘confined spaces’ — such as choke points between islands,” retired Marine Col. Grant Newsham, a senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, said in an email Wednesday.

“But if there’s a lot of ocean for an enemy to maneuver in, it’s not so hard to avoid them,” he said.

Expeditionary advanced base operations — another Force Design tenet — call for small, mobile Marine groups to operate within range of enemy missiles, seize and hold islands, and sink hostile vessels.

Japanese media have reported the possible first-time deployment of NMESIS to Ishigaki, about 150 miles from Taiwan, during the Resolute Dragon exercise scheduled for Sept. 11-25 across Japan. Figueredo declined to confirm or deny the deployment, saying III Marine Expeditionary Force would provide more information Friday.