Sailors, Marines Deploy Long-range Missile Systems to Norway for Drills

Norwegian Home Guard Soldiers with 3rd Platoon, District 11, provide security for an Australian Strike Master Coastal Defense System, operated by U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, during Operation Atlantic City 26 on Jan Mayen, Norway, Aug 30, 2026. US Marine Corps photo The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps recently deployed the sea service’s long-range Containerized Launching System and Strike Master Coastal Defense System to Norway as part of Operation Atlantic City 26 and NATO’s Arctic Sentry enhanced Vigilance Activity.

The expeditionary long-range fire systems were deployed to Norwegian city Trondheim and remote island Jan Mayen in the High North, for drills that ran from Aug. 26-Sept. 4.

Imagery released by the Pentagon shows a Containerized Launching System being loaded onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft on Aug. 25 and offloaded Aug. 27 at Trondheim, Norway, to participate in Operation Atlantic City 26. The Containerized Launching System is based on Lockheed Martin’s Mk 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System, which packs four Mk 41 Vertical Launch System cells into a 40-foot container.

The Navy has only disclosed one firing of the system, carried out in October 2023 by Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS-26). In contrast, the U.S. Army’s Typhon system, similarly based on the Mk 70, conducted a firing in Australia last year and in the Philippines this year.

Personnel assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One load a U.S. Navy Containerized Launching System onto a U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster III for deployment to the High North in support of Operation Atlantic City 2026, Aug. 25, 2026. US Navy photo “The strategic airlift mission demonstrated the rapid projection of joint logistics and interoperable communication assets directly into the High North to sustain forward NATO forces,” reads the image caption.

Atlantic City is a trilateral operational initiative by Norway, the U.S. and the U.K. that is geared toward developing and demonstrating expeditionary advanced base capabilities and validating combined fires, maritime domain awareness and sea denial to reinforce the security and stability of the High North.

The drills focus on the rapid aerial deployment of forces equipped with mobile ground based maritime strike capabilities to the island of Jan Mayen, a volcanic island 1,000 kilometers – around 621 miles – from that mainland of Norway that occupies an important geostrategic position north of the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap. During the Cold War, the GIUK gap formed a chokepoint against entry into the Atlantic Ocean by Russian naval forces operating from the Kola Peninsula and has now again become of strategic importance as Russia increases its military activities.

Pentagon imagery also shows a Strike Master Coastal Defense System being loaded on a Royal Air Force A400M transport aircraft at Trondheim on Aug. 28. The system was operating on Jan Mayen on Aug. 30.

U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 10th Marines and U.K. Airmen with RAF Brize Norton prepare to load an Australian Strike Master Coastal Defense System inside an Airbus A400M Atlas in Trondheim, Norway, Aug. 28, 2026, during Atlantic City 26. US Marine Corps photo The Strike Master combines twin pack Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile launchers mounted on Thales Australia’s Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle and was developed by the two companies to meet an Australian Army requirement for long range strike capability. On April 28, the Australian government announced it had selected the competing Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and Precision Strike Missile for the requirement.

Earlier in March, Kongsberg stated that the prototype vehicle would remain in Europe for demonstrations due to international interest in the system. The U.S. Marine Corps already uses the Naval Strike Missile launchers for its Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), which uses the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle-derived unmanned Rogue Fires vehicle as its launch platform.

In September of 2025, the three countries also conducted training on Jan Mayen with a Royal Air Force A400M transporting a U.S. Marine Corps JLTV from a pre-positioned location in Norway and the JLTV simulated the NMESIS, according to a news release.

The U.S. Marine Corps also released a video detailing that Marines with Fire Support Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, and Marine Air Support Squadron 1, Marine Air Control Group 28, operated a command and control node to integrate with a U.S. Marine-operated Strike Master Coastal Defense System and a Norwegian National Manoeuvre Air Defence System (NOMADS).

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Palacio, a fires officer for U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa, left, speaks with British Royal Marines Maj. Nate Brown, commanding officer of Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group, following an airlift insertion on Jan Mayen Island, Norway, Aug. 29, 2026, during Operation Atlantic City 26. US Marine Corps photo According to the U.K. Ministry of Defense, personnel from personnel from LXX Squadron, Royal Air Force, deployed alongside detachments from the U.K. Commando Force. The operation saw U.K. forces work with the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian Home Guard and U.S. Marine Corps units to integrate various sensor and communications systems.

“This operation demonstrates the strength of our partnership with Norway and the United States, and the ability of our Armed Forces to operate together in even the most demanding Arctic conditions. It is a clear signal of our enduring commitment to NATO security and to defending our shared interests in the High North,” said U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting in the news release.

Released images show that the Royal Marines commandos were from Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group.

“Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron deploys ahead of the main Commando Force for specialist reconnaissance tasks. Made up of Royal Marines Mountain Leaders in the main, but also including Royal Marines Landing Craft operators and Army Commandos, they operate in small teams, providing the initial battle picture for the Commando Force Headquarters,” reads 30 Commando’s unit page.