The Marine Corps has launched a pioneering effort to bring cutting-edge drone capabilities directly to the squad level by establishing an elite attack drone team.
This new unit will be tasked with developing the tactics and techniques to locate and neutralize threats up to 20 kilometers away using first-person view (FPV) drones, according to Col. Scott Cuomo, head of the Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico.
Much like the Marine Corps Shooting Team played a crucial role in integrating the M27 Infantry Assault Rifle across the force, the newly formed attack drone team will be instrumental in guiding the adoption of FPV drones.
These drones, flown with real-time video feeds from the pilot’s perspective, are rapidly emerging as game-changers on the modern battlefield.
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“The attack drone team now has a mission to become the experts at this,” Cuomo said. “Someone has got to be the best in any organization and then have the best knowledge to teach it.”
The creation of this team reflects the Marine Corps’ urgent push to adapt to the evolving realities of warfare, heavily influenced by lessons learned from recent conflicts like Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Both conflicts showcased the devastating effectiveness of small, inexpensive drones in surveillance, targeting, and direct attacks.
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In response, the attack drone team is now working full-time to develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for FPV drone use in combat.
“How do you train a Marine that way?” Cuomo asked. “What are the tasks? What are the conditions, the environments that you’re training that Marine in? What are the standards that they have to meet? So that’s all what we’re working through right now every single day. As we’re speaking, Marines are working through that.”
The training is not theoretical — it is being forged in real time through constant experimentation, iteration, and the development of best practices. These insights will eventually inform how Marines across the force employ drones for both reconnaissance and direct attack.
Starting in fiscal year 2026, the attack drone team will participate in Marine Corps Marksmanship Competitions.
These events will provide a unique platform to share FPV drone tactics with a broader audience of Marines, helping to normalize the use of drones in infantry operations, said Maj. Hector Infante, a spokesperson for Training and Education Command.
In addition to domestic training events, the attack drone team will also take part in U.S. and international small drone competitions.
These competitions will not only sharpen their technical and tactical skills but also offer opportunities to integrate innovations from allied forces and civilian drone communities.
“All the Marines who are part of the attack drone team are volunteers,” Infante said. “Some come from the Weapons Training Battalion, and more will be able to join when the Marine Corps Marksmanship Competition season kicks off in FY26.”
While the team is primarily focused on training and doctrine development, officials have not yet decided whether it will play a direct role in fielding FPV drones to operational units.
Still, their work is already shaping the Marine Corps’ understanding of how small drones can be employed at the tactical edge. And that, according to retired Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., is exactly where the U.S. military needs to focus.
“Drones — cheap drones, you can fly 10 of them in a day if you have to — what they do is, they provide SA [situational awareness] around you — you can see where you’re going — and then you need drones that will provide lethal effects,” McKenzie said.
The former head of U.S. Central Command emphasized that the military must continue investing not only in offensive drone capabilities but also in counter-drone defenses.
“The technology is advancing so fast. We’ve got to look day-to-day at what is happening in Ukraine in order to bring those lessons back to the United States,” McKenzie added.
With peer adversaries actively refining drone warfare, the attack drone team stands at the forefront of the Marine Corps’ efforts to ensure it remains adaptable, lethal, and informed by the harsh realities of modern combat.
The initiative underscores a broader cultural and operational shift — one where small, adaptable teams of Marines will wield not just rifles, but also remotely piloted eyes and firepower in the sky.
In the coming years, the work of this team may very well define how Marines fight and win on the battlefields of tomorrow.
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