American Marines open fire in the South China Sea

United States Marines have opened fire in a live-fire exercise to defend their amphibious task force aboard the warship USS Portland as it operated in the contested waters of the South China Sea, the US Marine Corps has said.

The Marines, drawn from Battalion Landing Team 3/5 of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, fired at a simulated target during what the Marine Corps described as a defence of the amphibious task force live-fire exercise aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland on 12 June, a drill designed to rehearse the close-in defence of the ships that carry an amphibious force into a contested area.

The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit is embarked aboard the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which the Marine Corps describes as a persistent, combat-credible force contributing to deterrence and crisis response across the area of operations of the United States Seventh Fleet, the US Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, which operates routinely alongside allies and partners in what Washington calls the preservation of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

USS Portland, designated LPD-27 and named after the city in Oregon, was commissioned in 2018 and is one of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks that form the backbone of the United States’ ability to move Marines and their equipment by sea, carrying landing craft, MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors and an embarked Marine force, and defended by 30mm Bushmaster cannons and Rolling Airframe Missile launchers. The ship is also notable for having carried a Laser Weapon System for testing, a directed-energy weapon trialled against aerial targets.

The exercise took place in one of the most heavily disputed bodies of water in the world, where China claims roughly 90 per cent of the sea through its expansive nine-dash line, bringing it into direct conflict with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, all of which hold competing claims over its islands, reefs and waters. The sea is also one of the globe’s most important trade arteries, with a large share of global commerce passing through it each year, which is part of why the United States and its allies treat freedom of navigation there as a strategic priority.

Amphibious ready groups and their embarked Marine units are among the most visible instruments of American presence in the region, able to respond to crises ranging from combat to disaster relief.