U.S. Marine Corps Expands NMESIS Anti-Ship Missile Force with New ROGUE-Fires Order.

The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded Oshkosh Defense a $70.6 million contract for additional ROGUE-Fires carriers, expanding its fleet of unmanned mobile launch platforms that strengthen the Corps’ ability to threaten hostile warships from dispersed positions across contested maritime regions. The award, recently announced by Oshkosh Defense, reinforces the Marine Corps’ push to create harder-to-target anti-ship forces capable of operating inside an adversary’s engagement zone.

ROGUE-Fires serves as the launch platform for the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), giving Marines a remotely operated precision-strike capability against surface vessels without exposing crews to direct risk. The system supports a broader shift toward distributed operations, maritime denial, and long-range fires designed to complicate enemy naval maneuver and enhance deterrence in future conflicts.

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U.S. Marine Corps NMESIS launcher mounted on an unmanned ROGUE-Fires vehicle during a maritime strike exercise, providing long-range anti-ship capabilities from dispersed coastal positions. (Picture source: US DoD)

Under the contract, Oshkosh Defense will manufacture additional ROGUE-Fires carriers through September 2028. Production activities will primarily take place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, while supporting work will be conducted in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The award is funded through Fiscal Year 2025 and Fiscal Year 2026 Marine Corps procurement appropriations and was issued on a sole-source basis by Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM).

According to the U.S. Department of Defense contract announcement released on May 30, 2026, the delivery order covers the procurement of ROGUE-Fires vehicles that serve as launch carriers for the NMESIS weapon system. The exact number of vehicles included in the contract has not been disclosed. However, the award reflects the Marine Corps' continued investment in distributed anti-access and area-denial capabilities intended to challenge adversary naval operations in littoral regions.

NMESIS combines the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) with the unmanned ROGUE-Fires vehicle to create a mobile coastal defense and maritime interdiction system. Developed through cooperation between Oshkosh Defense, Raytheon, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, and the U.S. Marine Corps, the system is intended to engage hostile surface vessels from dispersed expeditionary positions. The NSM is a fifth-generation anti-ship missile with a range exceeding 185 kilometers, a sea-skimming flight profile, autonomous target-recognition capability, and resistance to electronic countermeasures. Unlike many earlier anti-ship missiles that rely primarily on radar guidance, the NSM uses an imaging infrared seeker combined with terrain-reference navigation, enabling engagement of targets in contested electromagnetic environments.

The ROGUE-Fires carrier is derived from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) family produced by Oshkosh Defense. It has been modified to operate without an onboard crew through a robotic control architecture developed in partnership with Forterra. Configurations observed during Marine Corps demonstrations show the integration of autonomous navigation systems, remote-driving technology, and a launcher capable of carrying two ready-to-fire NSMs. The vehicle retains the mobility characteristics of the JLTV, including independent suspension, off-road performance, and the ability to operate on austere terrain where conventional missile batteries may face deployment challenges.

The development of NMESIS is closely linked to the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept. This operational approach calls for small Marine units to deploy across islands and coastal regions in order to establish temporary firing positions capable of controlling maritime chokepoints and strategic sea lanes. By combining unmanned vehicles with long-range precision-guided missiles, the Marine Corps seeks to create a distributed network of firing units able to relocate rapidly after launch, reducing vulnerability to enemy surveillance and counterfire systems.

At the operational level, NMESIS provides a sea-denial capability designed to increase survivability and flexibility. Remote operation allows launch vehicles to be positioned in exposed locations while personnel remain at safer distances. The combination of autonomous mobility, long-range precision strike capability, and reduced personnel exposure complicates adversary targeting processes. In a potential conflict scenario in the Western Pacific, NMESIS-equipped units could establish overlapping anti-ship engagement zones from multiple islands, creating additional constraints on the movement of hostile naval forces.

The Marine Corps has already tested the system during several major exercises. In 2021, NMESIS successfully destroyed a surface target during Large Scale Exercise, marking one of the first operational demonstrations of an unmanned ground-based anti-ship missile system in U.S. service. Subsequent exercises conducted in Hawaii and across the Pacific integrated the capability into joint maritime strike architectures involving land, air, and naval forces. These demonstrations also validated the system's ability to receive targeting data from external sources, including aircraft, naval vessels, and intelligence networks, allowing engagements beyond the line of sight of the firing unit.

Industrial cooperation remains a central element of the program. Kongsberg supplies the NSM, while Raytheon serves as the missile's U.S. production and integration partner. Oshkosh Defense provides the launch vehicle, and Forterra contributes autonomous driving technologies. This industrial structure allows the Marine Corps to leverage existing production lines while reducing development timelines compared with the creation of a completely new missile carrier.

Beyond its immediate operational role, the continued expansion of the NMESIS inventory reflects broader changes in U.S. military doctrine. Distributed precision-strike networks are increasingly viewed as a means of countering larger naval formations, particularly in geographically fragmented regions such as the Indo-Pacific. As China continues to expand both its naval presence and missile forces in the Western Pacific, NMESIS provides the United States and its allies with an additional maritime-denial capability capable of threatening high-value surface combatants from dispersed positions. The latest ROGUE-Fires procurement therefore illustrates the growing emphasis placed on unmanned expeditionary warfare and long-range maritime strike systems within contemporary U.S. deterrence and force-employment strategies.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.