In accordance with the USMC’ FY2026 budgets unveiled this week, their Long Range Fires (LRF) launcher, built around a single-cell Mark 41 VLS for TOMAHAWK missiles on a ROGUE-Fires carrier vehicle, has been cancelled due to being deemed unsuitable for the type of expeditionary warfare the Marines are focusing on.

LRF was first introduced to the USMC in 2023 when the first battery was delivered to Long Range Missile Battery A, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in Camp Pendleton (CA), offering the force an additional, longer-range fire capability to strike targets from shore and inland. The previous Corps’ plan was to field 56 launchers with a mix of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) and Maritime Strike Tomahawks (MST) by FY2028.

In the official FY2026 Budget documentation, the USMC has concluded that the “LRF system was not able to be employed in austere, expeditionary, littoral environments and has made the decision to terminate the program.” No further details are provided about how this conclusion was reached. The launchers already delivered to the Corps will be removed from service and transferred to the U. Navy and US Army.

Despite cutting the LRF, the Marines are still showing a strong will to improve their shore-based anti-ship/surface-surface capabilities, significantly increasing procurement of NMESIS and HIMARS.

For the former, in the FY2026 budget, it is confirmed the “initiation” of 36 NMESIS ROGUE-Fires Carrier Block II, which will add unspecified new capabilities over Block I and Block 0 launchers. An extension of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) range is also expected by Kongsberg due to some new tested upgrades (flight profiles and endgame maneuvers) and a more energy-dense fuel. These will be able to enhance lethality and increase range respectively.

For HIMARS, the force has allocated over $500 million for the initial procurement of 108 Extended Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS), which offer twice the range of the current Standard Range GMLRS (SR GMLRS), and the possibility to engage ships thanks to a new enabling seeker. The USMC is also actively observing the US Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) development, which will enhance the capabilities of the weapon system.

As usual, the USMC has shownits unemotional strong behavior in cutting combat-proven weapon systems if they do not suit on its operational concepts.

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