Island Attacks? The U.S. Marine Corps is Trained for a New Generation of Amphibious Warfare

By Kris Osborn, Warrior

Future amphibious assaults will most likely look nothing like the famous World War II Iwo Jima attack, which was largely linear, straight ahead, and led by thousands of committed Marines willing to absorb enemy fire to take the beachhead.  The world may see modern amphibious warfare as it has never existed before, should the U.S. Marine Corps launch a ship-to-shore assault to secure Kharg Island in the current war against Iran. 

As the USS Tripoli surges toward tegion, thhe re Pentagon may be considering using its 2,000-plus Marines, amphibious assault vehicles, landing craft, helicopters, drones and F-35Bs to seize and control Iran’s oil-rich island outpost.  Any effort to surround and take-over the island successfully would doubtless require massive countermine operations, air support to destroy underground weapons and mobile launchers and platforms such as the V22 Osprey able to physically “deliver” or air-drop Marines from ship-to-shore to hold and secure territory.  An amphibious assault would be likely to align with Concepts of Operation outlined in the Marine Corps’ famous Marine Corps Force Design 2030, a text which called for a mixture of drones, high-speed ship to shore lethality and bot longer-range and “stand-in” attack forces. 

Modern Amphibious Warfare

The advent of autonomy, AI-enabled unmanned systems, long-range sensors, and weapons, not to mention 5th-Generation close air support, have radically altered the strategic equation regarding how amphibious warfare would likely be conducted. Dispersed, yet closely networked fleets would consist of a mix of armed platforms to include surface ships with “over-the-horizon” missiles, ship-to-shore connectors loaded with Abrams tanks, undersea, aerial, and surface drones. These drones would conduct reconnaissance looking for weak or less defended points along the enemy coastline while V-22 Osprey military aircraft and even amphibious-launched F-35B fighter jets supported the approach. AI-enabled large and small, surface and undersea drones will coordinate operations, share pressing target information and even conduct high-risk attacks while Marines and sailors perform command and control at safer standoff regions.

Recognizing the changing nature of the global environment, and the increasingly concerning Chinese threat in the Pacific, the Corps has in recent years made a number of intense moves to adapt to the kinds of amphibious warfare operations which will be required in the future. There are many elements to this, to include a literal “explosion” of unmanned systems, manned-unmanned teaming and command and control, high-speed, yet extremely lethal weapons platforms to support expeditionary operations, specialized “island-hopping” littoral units and “Stand-In” forces positioned to quickly close with an enemy as needed.

 Many of these adaptations were outlined in the Marine Corps Force Design 2030, a strategic text outlining the Corps adaptive approach to future amphibious warfare. Among other things, the concepts of operation articulated in the text seek to build upon the speed and rapid deployment capability of platforms armed with anti-armor weapons and fortified by close-in drone-surveillance and targeting. 

Marine Corps Force Design 2030

The success of anti-armor weapons in Ukraine, for instance, is cited in the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 text as a reason why light, expeditionary yet extremely lethal sea-air-land, multi-domain forces are needed. This was the reason why the Corps is reducing its amount of heavy armor, as the service wants to prioritize rapid deployment, anti-armor lethality, island-hopping sea-land warfare operations and extensive use of unmanned systems for surveillance and close-in-attack. While many applaud the Corp's vigorous effort to adapt to a new threat environment with lighter, faster anti-armor weapons and drones, some former Corps amphibious assault commanders maintain that tanks and heavy armor should remain a critical element of any amphibious assault force. Larger heavily armored platforms will still be needed to hold-territory, and the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have in recent years been breaking through with an ability to rapidly transit heavy armor from ship-to-shore. 

 Increasingly, big-deck amphibs are expected to function as critical “mother ships” operating large groups of unmanned systems, aircraft and surface attack platforms at stand-off distances. In maritime areas such as the Pacific, where critical areas are separated by what’s called the “tyranny of distance,” a need for Sea-Basing, multi-domain networking and manned-unmanned command and control is indispensable to maritime security and deterrence missions.

USS Tripoli

As the second-built America-class amphibious assault ship, the USS Tripoli can carry a Marine Expeditionary Unit, heavy armor, V-22 Ospreys and as many as 20 F-35Bs.  The USS Tripoli does not have a well-deck but is instead optimized for aviation, yet the ship could launch and control surface, air and undersea drones while delivering 5th-generation air support with F-35Bs. 

Often called the “Swiss Army Knives” of maritime warfare, amphibious assault ships, Marine Expeditionary Units and Amphibious Ready Groups have for decades been foundational to the Corps, yet they are even more vital in today’s fast-evolving threat environment. The need for multi-domain kinds of air-sea-land coastal, littoral or island-hopping warfare operations has become more pressing given the threat environment in the Pacific theater. Although amphibious warfare moving into the future is less likely to approximate the kinds of linear maritime combat formations such as those used with success in Iwo Jima in WWII, the need for sea-land-air warfare operations and continued readiness across dispersed formations will persist into the future. 

Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.