MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.– Weapons Training Battalion, Training Command, hosted the inaugural Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition Aug. 10-14 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
Marines from 3rd Littoral Combat Team and 4th Marine Division conducted strike planning and execution, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance integration, urban and night operations, long-range strikes and moving-target engagements. The teams were required to synchronize multiple attack drones against separate targets at nearly simultaneous times on target.
Competitors were also placed on the receiving end of the systems they were trained to employ. An opposing force used ISR to locate and track teams, requiring competitors to manage their signatures and respond to the threat while completing their missions.
“Being on the receiving end of the weapon system we’re trained to employ was humbling, to say the least,” said Lance Cpl. Georgino Perez, an infantryman with 3rd Littoral Combat Team and FPV drone pilot. “It highlighted the need for more training, not only on how to employ these systems, but how to survive against them.”
The competition also provided WTBn with insight into how to enhance current attack drone training, to include long-range aerial navigation, time-on-target planning, hide-site and antenna management, emergency protective actions, escape and evasion, and signature management.
“The experience gained at the championship is important to the Marine Corps’ train-the-trainer model,” said Col. Charles E. Anklam III, commanding officer of Weapons Training Battalion. “Marines who develop proficiency through advanced training and competition can take those lessons back to their units and help build more capable attack drone teams throughout the Fleet.”
The upcoming FY27 competition is expected to introduce a dedicated opposing force and electronic warfare effects while increasing engagement distances to as much as 20 kilometers. The changes will build on this year’s lessons and further test teams’ ability to employ attack drones in a contested environment. The competition concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing FPV operators from 4th Marine Division as the competition winners.
For more information on the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team, contact Training and Education Command Communication Strategy and Operations atmailto:smb_tecom_media@usmc.mil.