Marines order unmanned armored combat vehicles to host anti-ship missile launchers for invasion beaches
QUANTICO MARINE BASE, Va. – U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary warfare experts are asking Oshkosh Defense LLC in Oshkosh, Wis., to provide additional unmanned armored combat vehicles as missile launchers for a new Marine Corps land-based anti-ship missile system.
Officials of the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., announced a $40.1 million order last Tuesday to Oshkosh for Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) carriers for use in the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS).
The ROGUE-Fires long-range anti-ship missile launchers will be based on unmanned remotely operated versions of the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), each which will carry two Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) to help protect Marine Corps infantry on invasion beaches.
The ROGUE Fires version of the JLTV lacks a crew cab and body, and is integrated with sensors and cameras, with a launcher mounted on top of the vehicle. Marine Corps leaders say they plan eventually to launch future weapons from ROGUE Fires.
Oshkosh won a separate $39.6 million order last October for unmanned ROGUE-Fires carriers for NMESIS missile launchers.
The RTX Raytheon segment in Tucson, Ariz., is building the NMESIS launchers that mount on top of the Oshkosh ROGUE-Fires unmanned ground vehicles. Raytheon won a $49.4 million contract last week to build low-rate initial production NMESIS missile launchers.
NMESIS will provide the Marine Corps High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) battalions with anti-ship missiles. NMESIS integrates a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launcher unit, capable of launching two NSMs, onto a ROGUE-Fires carrier.
The NSM has an imaging infrared seeker, an onboard target database, and navigates by Global Positioning System (GPS), inertial sensors, and terrain-reference systems. It can detect, recognize, and discriminate among targets independently, and is designed to strike enemy ships at or near the water line to inflict maximum structural damage.
On this order Oshkosh will do the work in Oshkosh, Wis.; Alexandria, Va.; and Gaithersburg, Md., and should be finished by December 2026. For more information contact Oshkosh Defense online at https://oshkoshdefense.com, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
