{"id":45009,"date":"2020-12-09T20:54:05","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T20:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:42:29","slug":"the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2013 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2020\/06\/01\/in-his-fight-to-change-the-corps-americas-top-marine-takes-friendly-fire\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Marine Corps<\/a> is looking to equip its infantry units with a man-portable, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/2020\/04\/20\/darpa-to-foster-urban-drone-swarm-tech-with-nine-new-contracts\/\" target=_blank>swarming <\/a>loitering munition that experts say is part of its shift toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2020\/02\/12\/heres-the-us-marine-corps-plan-for-sinking-chinese-ships-with-drone-missile-launchers\/\" target=_blank>countering China <\/a>with a light and deadly seaborne infantry force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The so-called \u201cOrganic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/2020\/10\/14\/are-the-us-army-and-us-marine-corps-competing-for-missions-in-the-pacific\/\" target=_blank>Precision Fires<\/a> &#8211; Infantry Light\u201d program is seeking ground-launched drones that can be deployed with no more than two people, have a range of up to 20 kilometers, loiter for 90 minutes, swarm, be jam resistant and be able to take out enemy troops and materiel, according to a November request for information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2020\/03\/05\/to-combat-the-china-threat-us-marine-corps-declares-ship-killing-missile-systems-its-top-priority\/\" target=_blank> Marine Corps<\/a> has been trying to reshape itself as a primarily maritime force that can distribute forces over a massive battlefield such as the South China Sea, operating inside the Chinese weapon engagement zone that may be too dangerous for many military assets to operate inside until certain key objectives can be seized or neutralized. This has led the force to look at ways to pack as much capability into small, disbursed groups of Marines, something the portable drone swarms could support.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/09\/21\/did-the-us-marine-corps-give-up-on-a-big-ship-based-surveillance-drone-too-soon\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635870044272850490-tern-large-northrop-dec-2015jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Did the US Marine Corps give up on a big ship-based surveillance drone too soon?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Did the Marine Corps cut bait too soon on a ship-launched, long-range ISR drone?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special operations forces have used small loitering munition drones in combat for some time, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at The Hudson Institute, pointing to the AeroVironment Switchblade system. But the swarming effect is something that would take the system a step further, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe swarming idea would be, \u2018How do I overwhelm the enemy\u2019s defenses and cut off lines of escape,\u2019\u201d Clark explained. \u201cIf I\u2019m a Marine unit, I\u2019m generally going after a group of people, not just one or two guys the way SOF might be. But the idea here is to cause an area effect. You want to overwhelm defenses or cause explosions over a wider area to try and herd your adversary or cut off lines of retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou might create a blast pattern or detonate in some kind of order that herds your adversary into an area that you want to be a kill box. So, swarming for the Marine Corps would be about driving your enemy\u2019s behavior in ways advantageous to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marines might also be able to use a swarm as a decoy and try to get the adversary to look for the unit in the wrong locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some ways, this kind of unmanned system could be more effective than traditional Marine implements of war such as a .50 caliber machine gun, said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine and analyst with The Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a future fight, Marines will need to think about units that are \u201cas effective as possible with as small a signature as possible,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou are looking for weapon systems that can maximize the effectiveness of finding and eliminating a target while minimizing the logistical burden on the unit,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you want to maximize the range and any intelligence that system can deliver to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf I have a .50 cal: Hugely heavy, massive logistics burden to carry around the ammo, its very effective on target but I got to get it on target first, and it\u2019s certainly revealing my position. If I have a man-portable unmanned system that I can launch with a camera, it\u2019s small in size so its detectability is reduced, it can send that information back to the unit and it can also hit a target with great precision: That\u2019s an awesome capability to have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The swarming capability makes it even more lethal, Wood said, because the drones can communicate with each other to maximize the effectiveness of the strike by attacking from different axes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Clark and Wood agreed that this isn\u2019t a science fiction project but technology that exists today, which means it could be available much more quickly than a typical long-duration DoD acquisition program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s another indicator of the Marine Corps looking for current technologies that can allow small units to operate autonomously with a low logistical burden,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":84847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","left-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"}}},"categories":[160,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3361],"class_list":["post-45009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RNGQRGIH4FH2NJ67PH5HQJNSAM","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David B. Larter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David B. Larter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 672,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Naval\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/09\\\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Naval\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"naval\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones - Defense News","description":"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones","og_description":"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00","author":"David B. Larter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David B. Larter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones","datePublished":"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/"},"wordCount":672,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Naval","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/","name":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-09T20:54:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:42:29+00:00","description":"The Marines want to unleash swarms of loitering munitions on its adversaries.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/12\/09\/the-us-marine-corps-wants-grunts-packing-deadly-swarming-drones\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Naval","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/","ad_zone":"naval"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The US Marine Corps wants grunts packing deadly swarming drones"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone_launch.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45012,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45009\/revisions\/45012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45009"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=45009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}