The U.S. Marine Corps is urgently scaling up its counter-drone operations following stress tests that exposed significant gaps in its defenses against hostile unmanned aerial systems. During a recent pre-deployment training exercise, a highly skilled Marine unit faced difficulties combating drone threats, according to Maj. Gen. Mark Clingan of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command.
Drone Challenges Highlighted
'The Marines had a really difficult time going downrange and dealing with the drones,' Clingan said at the Modern Day Marine panel in Washington, D.C. He described electronic warfare countermeasures as a 'double-edged sword,' complicating the fight by disrupting both friendly and enemy systems.
'It confirms that right now, if faced with some of the emerging threats that we see on the battlefield, that we're going to have to adjust,' Clingan explained.
Training and Technology Upgrades
The Corps is addressing these vulnerabilities by introducing counter-drone training lanes for deploying units and investing heavily in drone proficiency. By the end of the year, the Marines expect to have tens of thousands more small drones across the force, enhancing training capabilities. However, integrating these systems with other assets, such as machine guns, aviation, and mortars—a process known as combined arms—remains a complex challenge.
The Pentagon is also pushing for greater investment in low-cost, attritable drones, aiming to field hundreds of thousands of small uncrewed aerial systems to achieve American drone dominance. Defensive efforts are focused on combating threats ranging from small first-person-view drones to loitering munitions.
New Counter-Drone Team
To accelerate its counter-drone strategy, the Marine Corps is forming a dedicated counter-attack drone team. This unit will focus on developing tactics, techniques, and technologies to defeat enemy drones. Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, who oversees the Corps' Training and Education Command, emphasized the need for rapid learning in this evolving battlefield domain.
'The new team will pressurize the learning and dedicate a small, highly qualified group of individuals to learning just as fast in the counter-drone space as we have been in the drone operation space,' Watson said.
These initiatives underscore the Marine Corps' commitment to addressing emerging threats and maintaining American military superiority in an increasingly drone-dominant landscape.