April 27, 2026: In March the American Marine Corps carried out its first live-fire drone strike against a maritime surface vessel last month during a trial in Japan as part of the service’s effort to advance its autonomous capabilities.

Marines from the III Expeditionary Operations Training Group and operators from Naval Special Warfare conducted the maritime drone strike from a Naval Special Warfare surface craft, taking out an unmanned surface vessel designed and built by the Marine team. The trial, held in Okinawa, Japan, in early March and announced by the service last week, marks the latest Marine Corps drone test this year. Three Marine Expeditionary Forces have held various drone trials in the last three months.

These events were a landmark in the increasingly close integration of Special Operations Forces and conventional forces, ushering in a new era where drones, and even their targets, are designed and built by the Marines.

The trial was successful and was also a powerful demonstration of a force multiplier on a new scale. The Marines demonstrated the ability to launch attack drones from their self-built submerged drones, showcasing a rapidly growing robotics capability within the Marine Corps, poised to significantly increase sensing and firepower in defense of the fleet. Using a combination of submerged and aerial drones, Marines can now investigate vessels of interest and, if they are confirmed as hostile, engage them with organic, unmanned firepower.

Drone integration is part of the III EOTG/Expeditionary Operations Training Group’s mission to prepare individual Marines for the challenges of modern expeditionary warfare. The unit’s Unmanned Systems Branch currently has a two-fold focus, perfecting payload delivery and developing robust counter-unmanned systems. The Marines are learning not just how to be drone operators but are also being trained as engineers who are prepared to build their own unmanned systems from local economies during conflict.

By training Marines in the construction and operation of these systems, III EOTG is building an arsenal of innovators ready to fabricate and deploy unmanned aerial, surface and ground systems tailored to specific battlefield needs.

Marines are learning to create leave-behind sensors, build mesh networks or develop unique systems across sea, air or land to deliver payloads, based on the situations faced. Along with sea-based drones, III EOTG is also developing first-person view drones for III MEF to deploy in operations.

The Marine Corps has been experimenting with and deploying small drone systems as part of the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 plan, which includes the deployment of Marines in small teams to conduct littoral, dispersed and expeditionary operations by either directly attacking targets or providing targeting information, particularly in the Indo-Pacific where Marines are expected to deploy in remote locations in the first and second island chains. There is also the requirement for such small teams to be able to build and deploy drones independently based on the situation. The Marine Corps is also experimenting in the use of sea and aerial drones to resupply such units.

Along with trials on using drones offensively, the Marine Corps has also conducted trials on defending against drones and maintaining communications with drones. Earlier this year, Marines and American naval forces and partners tested new defenses against swarming drones during the Technology Operational Experimentation Event Wave Breaker at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

During the experiment, Marines from 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, formed a defensive Blue Cell tasked with protecting a high-value naval vessel and critical airfield runways from a simulated, large-scale drone attack. The event’s core purpose was to establish a rigorous process for testing emerging technologies in harsh, real-world maritime conditions, directly responding to the evolving character of war, the news release reads.

The Space Dynamics Laboratory provided key technology in the form of its Counter Air for the Office of Naval Research system that integrates radars, cameras and computer vision systems to detect, track and engage hostile drones, boats and aircraft.

By assessing new capabilities in a realistic environment, the Wave Breaker exercise directly forges the future of naval operations. This hands-on integration is the ultimate test of advanced technology, ensuring our forces become more lethal and resilient.

Earlier in the year at Camp Pendleton, Marines joined with the Defense Innovation Unit and industry professionals to evaluate first-person view drones that use fiber optic cables, marking the American Marine Corps’ first field evaluation of the technology for drone employment in contested environments, a Marine Corps news release reads.

Participating vendors for the fiber-optic evaluation included Auterion, Kraken, ModalAI, Neros and Nokturnal AI, with support from Contact Front Technologies, according to the release. The three-day assessment focused on presently available FPV drone solutions designed to maintain command-and-control and video feeds when radio frequency links are degraded. Unlike traditional unmanned aircraft systems that rely on wireless signals, fiber optic cables provide a physical data connection between the operator and the aircraft, reducing vulnerability to electronic warfare and enabling more reliable employment in denied environments.

The evaluation brought together Marines from 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, with I MEF coordinating the event alongside the Defense Innovation Unit as part of Project G.I., a Defense Department-wide effort intended to accelerate the fielding of solutions across the joint force.

Project G.I., which launched in June 2025, uses an accelerated approach intended to move mature technology from proposal to hands-on testing in months rather than years, according to the release. Marines have played a leading role in the challenge by organizing field-based evaluations, bringing together Marines with recent operational experience and ensuring feedback from end users is captured, translated into actionable requirements and pushed directly to industry teams.

Last summer, Marines assigned to I MEF partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit and vendors during a larger Project G.I. evaluation at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, which combined familiarization training with scenario-based demonstrations. January’s event built on that momentum by concentrating on fiber optic cable performance, a capability increasingly associated with maintaining drone effectiveness under electronic attack. Marines assessed how FPV systems connected by fiber optic cables could support tactical kinetic-effects while sustaining control and video in environments where traditional links can be disrupted, the service said in a release.

Fiber-optic tethered FPV capabilities are required on today’s battlefield. By deliberately building trained cadres within the command, MEF is positioned to scale pilots and capability rapidly, and to responsibly leverage every opportunity to integrate, evaluate and familiarize warfighters with proven systems.