The Trump administration and the Pentagon are reportedly assessing the possibility of launching an operation to seize the strategic island of Kharg - the oil terminal through which roughly 90% of Iran’s export capacity flows. Gaining control of it would, in effect, economically strangle Iran and significantly reduce its resilience.
For this reason, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is leaving the Asia-Pacific theatre and moving toward the Gulf (although, for now, only the LHA USS TRIPOLI, escorted by 2 ARLEIGH BURKE-class destroyers, is underway), while just a few days ago a USAF bomber raid struck Iranian bunkers and military positions on the island.
A potential operation to capture Kharg - located just 25 km from the mainland and therefore well within the engagement zone of a wide range of Iranian systems - would represent a major test case for the U.S. Marine Corps and for the doctrinal innovations introduced since 2019 under the leadership of General David Berger, then Commandant of the Corps. These reforms aim to transform the USMC into a force capable of operating in an “agile” manner within contested A2/AD environments and inside the adversary’s firing zone as a Stand-In Force.
This led to the historic decision to divest from heavy armored units and significantly reduce towed artillery, while instead prioritizing drones and long-range precision fires.
Hence the introduction of the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), based on an unmanned JLTV and equipped with two Naval Strike Missiles, as well as HIMARS with long-range guided munitions (which, notably, can also be employed from amphibious ship decks).
In parallel, the Corps has pursued the mass acquisition and fielding of loitering munitions for infantry units - Organic Precision Fire (OPF) - namely the triad composed of the SWITCHBLADE-300, ROUGUE 1™, and BOLT-M systems, significantly enhancing flexibility and lethality at the tactical edge.
Finally, the introduction of the short/very short-range air defense system Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS), combining a 30 mm cannon with four STINGER missiles, provides an effective counter to drones. In the same counter-UAV domain - particularly against mini and micro drones - the Corps is accelerating the deployment of portable systems under the Organic Counter-Small UAV (O-CSUAS) program.
Overall, Kharg could represent a major opportunity for the Marines to put into practice the concepts developed and tested over the past 6–7 years - with a clear eye toward future scenarios in the Indo-Pacific, where Marines would be required to operate “point-to-point” across islands and islets within China’s extensive firing complex.
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