The U.S. Marine Corps has accumulated thousands of first-person view drones over the span of several months, with thousands more on the way, the service said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meteoric rise of the service\u2019s autonomous weapons stockpile was a result of a clear edict from the top down and service member adaptability, according to Commanding Officer of the Weapons Training Battalion Col. Scott Cuomo, who spoke at the Modern Day Marine exposition in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRewind your brain to October,\u201d Cuomo said. \u201cWe had zero FPV attack drones in the United States. We have over 3,500 right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First-person view drones allow operators to watch a live feed through either goggles or a screen that provide visuals from the drone\u2019s vantage point. Many weigh several pounds, can carry explosives and travel close to 100 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the top brass signaled the service\u2019s shift toward modernizing its unmanned strike capabilities, the Marine Corps responded swiftly, ramping up the service\u2019s development and utilization of FPVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January 2025, Commanding Generals of Training Command Maj. Gen. Anthony M. Henderson and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory Brig. Gen. Simon M. Doran launched<\/a> the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team, recognizing the necessity of first-person view drones after the proliferation of the technology during the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strides came with the blessing of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, a vocal<\/a> proponent of getting FPV drones into the hands of Marines quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team, based out of Marine Corps Base Quantico, works in lockstep with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory to integrate the drones into the Fleet Marine Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\t