Marines are practicing island-hopping ahead of a future war with China

Marines in Japan got a look at what the Corps' future missions could look like during a recent island-hopping naval exercise in the East China Sea.

After a small team of reconnaissance Marines landed on an island during the first-of-its-kind Exercise Noble Fury, a larger force swooped in on MV-22 Ospreys and AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters. The grunts "quickly seized control of the island, establishing defensive positions," according to a news release on the exercise.

The Marines then coordinated with Seventh Fleet sailors, who had identified a target they couldn't engage. After passing info along to the Marines ashore, an Air Force MC-130J Super Hercules landed on an expeditionary airfield in the middle of the night with a high-mobility artillery rocket system, or HIMARS.