via press release
BATANES ISLANDS, Philippines – Strategically positioned on an island in the Luzon Strait, U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, established a Fires Expeditionary Advanced Base (EAB) with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) and conducted simulated maritime interdiction as a part of Exercise KAMANDAG 9, June 1, 2025. The event was tied to a larger Maritime Key Terrain Security Operation (MKTSO), during which U.S. Marines with 3d LCT and Philippine Marines with Marine Battalion Landing Team 10 rehearsed securing and defending key maritime terrain in the advancement of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
KAMANDAG is an annual Philippine Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps-led exercise aimed at enhancing the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ defense and humanitarian capabilities by providing valuable training in combined operations with foreign militaries.
In preparation for the KAMANDAG 9 MKTSO, 3d LCT’s Medium Range Missile (MMSL) Battery rapidly inserted the NMESIS into the Batanes Islands via KC-130J Super Hercules assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 352. Once inserted, the MMSL Battery remotely operated the NMESIS from the airfield into a concealed position, minimizing its signature. In short order, the Fires EAB established its capability to interdict maritime targets from key terrain in support of maintaining open sea lines of communication.
Back on Luzon, 3d MLR’s Fires and Air Direction Element (FADE) initiated the dynamic maritime targeting process, calling on the capabilities of numerous maritime patrol and reconnaissance (MPRA) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to find, fix, and track maritime targets for notional engagement in coordination with Joint, Allied, and Partnered naval forces. The supporting assets, which were coordinated by 3d MLR’s cross-functional fires and effects planning cell, formed critical nodes in the kill web required to execute complex maritime strikes on the modern battlefield.
The functional depth of Joint kill webs provides redundancy and flexibility in 3d MLR’s ability to generate kill chain options. National overhead systems and organic maritime radars generate maritime domain awareness. In one instance, a P-8A Poseidon sourced by the U.S. Navy’s Commander, Task Force (CTF) 72 provided the FADE with identification and targeting data. The FADE, by means of its delegated targeting authorities, then provided technical fire direction to the MMSL Battery, and other participating firing units, to notionally engage vessels of interest transiting the Luzon Strait.
Although no live-fire was conducted during the execution of the MKTSO, each fire support rehearsal allowed the 3d MLR Fires Center to exercise its proficiency in maritime strike planning, execution of maritime dynamic targeting and air direction authorities, coordination and synchronization of munitions employment, integration of aviation operations, and management of tactical data links to enhance the Combined and Joint Force’s common tactical picture.
“The constructive kills executed during the KAMANDAG 9 MKTSO are yet another example of the 3d MLR’s proven value proposition to the Combined and Joint Force,” said Lt. Col. Patrick Schrafft, 3d MLR’s Fire Support Coordinator. “3d MLR’s Fires Center - to include the FADE and the Cross-Functional Fires and Effects Planning Cell - outpaces like entities by leveraging the subject matter expertise of our highly trained and driven fires, targeting, and air direction professionals. This, when combined with persistent maritime domain awareness, delegated authorities, and a resilient communications architecture, allows us to action the targeting objectives of the Task Force or Joint Task Force Commander within an assigned area of operations and associated airspace.”
3d MLR’s Tactical Air Control Element (TACE) conducted air control and deconfliction for MKTSO fire support rehearsals. Using the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR), the TACE integrated friendly aircraft while the NMESIS and other participating firing units notionally fired their munitions.
While the MMSL Battery was focused on neutralizing the MKTSO scenario’s seaborne threats, U.S. and Philippine Marines with 3d LCT and MBLT-10 provided security. Spreading their combined forces across the island’s key maritime terrain, the U.S. and Philippine Marines rehearsed patrolling, seizing, and defending strategic airfields, ports, and access corridors against the scenario’s ground-based threats.
3d LCT’s Littoral Reconnaissance Team (LRT) – a low-signature, multi-disciplinary sensor team – supported the operation by providing increased maritime domain awareness and enabling multi-domain fires through the employment of various sensors and collection assets from the island’s high ground.
3d Littoral Logistics Battalion’s Damage Control and Resuscitation Team (DCRT) – a team of Naval medical personnel uniquely equipped to provide enroute care, trauma resuscitation, and stabilization of patients – also supported the exercise from various islands.
The synchronization of U.S.-Philippine forces during the KAMANDAG 9 MKTSO showcased the increased ability of the partnered militaries to coordinate complex, all-domain operations and further demonstrated the ironclad U.S.-Philippine alliance.
3d Marine Littoral Regiment is a dedicated U.S. Marine Corps unit specializing in amphibious and littoral warfare operations. Stationed on Oahu, Hawaii, and deployed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, 3d MLR is committed to promoting regional security and stability through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts with Allies and partner nations. |
