Marines’ New Missile-Toting Joint Light Tactical Vehicle

As reported by Caleb Larson in Nationalinterest.org, the Marine Corps is preparing to face China, a near-peer rival, in the Pacific.  The report notes that the Marines are developing new weapons, including the NMESIS, a high-subsonic missile with a 100+ nautical mile range and a highly agile terminal phase. NMESIS can fly in a low, sea-skimming flight profile to avoid enemy anti-missile systems and radar.  The tentative Marine plan is to place missile-toting Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) on remote island locations throughout the Pacific in order to both push Chinese ships farther out to sea and to deny them use of important land locations for support services like refueling and rearming.  The modified tactical vehicle foregoes cab space—and driver—for a pair of powerful Naval Strike Missiles. Launch photo courtesy of the US NAVY depicts an Oshkosh-built Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicle with a Naval Strike Missile attached, during a November 2020 test launch at Point Mugu, Calif. Soldier image courtesy of Reuters.

Our thanks to Robin E. Alexander, President ATC, alexander technical[at]gmail[dot]com, for her assistance with this report, which is a pre-release excerpt from the next edition of the UNMANNED SYSTEMS NEWS (USN).

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