Marine Corps Shifts Maritime Tactics & Strategy to Counter “Pacing” Threat Posed by China

Video Above: China’s 075 Amphibious Assault Ship the Hainan

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

US Marines are conducting high-speed, expeditionary surveillance and attack missions in Europe to bring the service’s new lighter, faster and more deployable service into operational settings and further reinforce NATO’s deterrence posture on the Eastern flank.

Force Design 2030 

Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger explained the Corps’ European presence in terms of an opportunity to bring the service’s Force Design 2030 to life, a text which envisions a faster, more agile, maritime oriented attack force positioned for rapid response, forward surveillance and high-speed attack.

“Our forces forward deployed to Europe are exercising these concepts in support of EUCOM,” Berger told the House Appropriations Committee – Defense in a 2023 budget hearing.

An essential concept informing the Corp’s Force Design 2030 effort is to pivot the Corps more fully to its expeditionary roots and avoid replicating capabilities best suited for the Army.

“What capabilities does the Marine Corps need to bring the joint force into the future? Heavy armor was useful in the past but going forward it is not what the Marine Corps will need. It is hard to move and hard to sustain. You don’t need two Armies as the Army is good at that. We want to be smaller, more agile, use precision weapons, loitering munitions and long-range precision fires,” Berger told HAC-D.