The US military is considering deploying its Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) during next month’s Resolute Dragon joint exercise with Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force. The annual drills aim to strengthen the US-Japan alliance’s defense readiness, particularly for safeguarding Japan’s remote islands.
Scheduled from September 11 to 25, the exercise will span multiple locations, including Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Iwo Jima, according to Japan’s NHK. Around 12,000 Japanese troops and 1,900 US personnel will participate, with activities possibly including live-fire rocket artillery drills. The NMESIS may be stationed at Camp Ishigaki in Okinawa as part of the exercise.
Introduced in 2023, the NMESIS is equipped with two Naval Strike Missiles on an unmanned Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Highly mobile and air-deployable, it can strike naval targets up to 115 miles (185 kilometers) away and plays a central role in the US military’s distributed maritime operations strategy.
The potential deployment follows NMESIS’s first overseas use in the Philippines earlier this year, reinforcing the US’ First Island Chain strategy to deter Chinese naval expansion. This comes as China and Russia held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan in August, featuring submarine rescue, anti-submarine warfare, and air defense exercises.
