US Marines and Japanese military install new radar on Taiwan’s doorstep

With help from the Japanese military, the Marines have deployed one of their newest radar systems on a small island 70 miles off Taiwan, the closest Japanese territory to the island.

Marines of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment used a Japan Self-Defense Force C-2 cargo aircraft to transport the TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) to Yonaguni Island on July 29.

Yonaguni is the last of a series of islands that make up Okinawa. According to the Marine Corps, 18,000 people are stationed there, and 7,000 U.S. Air Force personnel are stationed there.

The troops deployed the radar as part of an exercise using enhanced sensor and targeting data between the 12th MLR and the Japanese military during exercise Resolute Dragon, the Marines said. The exercise served as a test of operational readiness between the partner nation units and their technology.

This year’s edition was the fourth in the exercise’s history and included 3,000 Marines and sailors from the III Marine Expeditionary Force training alongside their Japanese counterparts.

Lt. Col. Joseph Mozzi, the regiment’s fire support coordinator, said the radar and transport capability will “greatly improve multi-domain operations and overall battlespace awareness,” enabling comprehensive detection and tracking of air, land and sea targets.

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As Defense News previously reported, G/ATOR combines the capabilities of five legacy air and ground surveillance and weapons control systems in a single device.

The initial contract for the multi-purpose radar system was awarded to Northrop Grumman in 2019 for $958 million. The goal was to provide the Marines with “a 360-degree situational view in real time to identify and track missiles, manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets, mortars and artillery fire,” Defense News reported.

The contract allowed the Corps to procure up to 30 radar systems, which the service would complete in fiscal year 2023.

In 2023, Northrop announced an improvement to the radar system to extend its detection and tracking range.

In its most recent budget request for fiscal year 2025, the Corps requested $4.2 billion for ground systems procurement and another $3 billion for research and development, according to budget documents.

According to budget documents, the total cost of upgrading G/ATOR is expected to be $51.3 million.

The 12th MLR was split from the 12th Marine Regiment, an artillery unit, in November, Marine Corps Times previously reported.

It is the second of three planned MLRs the Corps has earmarked for the Pacific region. The 3rd MLR was launched in March 2022 by the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment and is based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The next coastal regiment is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025 and will be based in Guam. It will be replenished by rotational units from the U.S. mainland, according to a 2023 Congressional Research Service report.

Once fully equipped, the regiments will have their own naval anti-ship system, a light tactical vehicle (JTV)-mounted naval attack missile, an MQ-9 Reaper drone, the G/ATOR radar system, and a yet-to-be-determined land-to-land watercraft, likely based on concepts being developed under the medium landing ship (formerly known as light amphibious warfare) program.

The regiments are expected to comprise 1,800–2,000 Marines and Navy medical and support personnel and be capable of operating as self-contained, mission-oriented units ranging in size from a handful of Marines to a battalion or more.