Aaron-Matthew Lariosa – July 6, 2026 1:47 PM
The U.S. Navy plans to homeport up to nine McClung-class medium landing ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to support the Marine Corps’ area denial and sensing operations across the Pacific.
According to an environmental impact statement released last month by the sea service, the proposed homeporting facilities at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham include a concrete roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ramp at West Loch and modifications to existing berthing located at Wharf F12/F13 on Ford Island near the USS Utah memorial. At West Loch, the facilities will be used to embark and offload Marines and their equipment. The Ford Island wharf will host the Pearl Harbor-based landing ships.
While the Navy uses the wharf next to Utah to berth vessels, the LSM basing project plans to alter the existing berth to accommodate the landing ships. A presentation from the sea service highlighted the potential impact construction would inflict on wildlife and the structural stability of the war grave. The Navy examined seven alternatives for the project, but only two of the concepts were deemed suitable for the LSM basing requirements, according to the environmental impact statement.
According to the first alternative plan, the Navy will shift work away from the F12/F13 berthings near Utah. This plan also involves more facilities on the berth itself, such as administrative buildings. The second alternative plan includes the wharf area near Utah and expands the wharf’s width, but comes without the buildings and facilities proposed in the first. Both alternatives propose the same construction plan for the West Loch RORO ramp.
From these proposed facilities, homeported LSMs can support the Hawaii-based 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR), a unit designed for a future fight against China in the Pacific. The homeporting project anticipates a capacity of a minimum of nine landing ships. Equipped with Naval Strike Missiles mounted on Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems (NMESIS), the sea service plans to get these forces onto strategic islands with the LSM.
Pearl Harbor already hosts the U.S. Army Pacific’s fleet of logistical support vessels, including the ground branch’s new Maneuver Support Vessel Light. The Army’s fleet, originally slated for joint service logistical operations, has been pressed into more versatile roles to get troops, supplies and missile launchers into difficult to reach archipelagos in the Philippines and Japan. During Balikatan, these watercraft also showcased the ground service’s own maritime deployment concepts with the Multi-Domain Command and retrofitted infantry divisions designed for Pacific operations.
The McClung-class is envisioned to play a crucial role in the service’s plans to counter China, having been pushed under the Marine Corps Force Design initiative to ferry MLR to deny strategic islands and waters across the Pacific. Derived from a Dutch design that debuted with the Nigerian Navy, the U.S. Navy turned to the existing design to fast track its deployment and construction across multiple yards. The sea service wants to field between 18 and 35 of the McClung-class ships and get the first vessel in the water by 2029.
In the meantime, MLRs forward-deployed in the Western Pacific have made use of prepositioning and commercial ferries. The Okinawa-based 12th MLR recently received NMESIS launchers, which can be airlifted or shipped short distances between the Ryukyu Islands from the first island chain Marine hub. In the Philippines last month, 3rd MLR contracted commercial Philippine ferries and RORO vessels to deliver the anti-ship missiles onto the Babuyan Islands.
Aaron-Matthew Lariosa
Aaron-Matthew Lariosa is a freelance defense journalist. His coverage focuses on Philippine defense modernization, the South China Sea and U.S. efforts in the first island chain.
Follow @AaronMatthewI_L