The U.S. Marine Corps redesignated an artillery battalion for land-based anti-ship operations, adding sea-denial firepower for maritime commanders while keeping cannon artillery elsewhere in the regiment.
The 2nd Marine Division’s 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, received the medium missile battalion designation at an Oct. 9 ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is the first Marine Corps battalion formally designated for that role, the service said.
Its new mission centers on the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), a land-based system whose launcher can fire two Naval Strike Missiles. The division puts the missile’s effective range at more than 130 nautical miles and says it can strike ships and fixed ground targets.
The Marine Corps describes the role as sea denial from land, supporting maritime commanders fighting for sea control. It said the battalion’s selection follows the commandant’s planning guidance and Force Design 2030, and is intended to give II Marine Expeditionary Force more flexibility in a crisis.
Another battalion in the 10th Marine Regiment will retain cannon artillery, the Marine Corps said. The service also said the redesignation does not change the Marines and sailors in the unit.
The battalion designation does not mark the Marine Corps’ first use of NMESIS. Marines in the 3d Marine Littoral Regiment’s Medium-Range Missile Battery, part of 3d Littoral Combat Team, already operate the system. That regiment formally received NMESIS in November 2024.
During Large Scale Exercise 2021 near Hawaii, NMESIS fired a Naval Strike Missile at a target at sea, the Marine Corps said. Its October 2025 Force Design update sets a fiscal 2033 goal of capacity for 18 launchers per medium-range missile system launcher battery.
