The U.S. Marine Corps plans to field new technologies to address the growing global threat of small unmanned aircraft systems. The service will evaluate dismounted counter-sUAS platforms to protect American and allied troops and maintain an operational advantage, the DOD said Wednesday. 

Marine Corps Drone Threat

Adversaries are increasingly deploying sUAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or to attack targets. Aside from its low manufacturing cost, the technology is agile, easy to use and generates low radar signature. 

Although small, sUAS can compromise security, destroy critical military assets, disrupt operations and even lead to loss of life. 

“One of the things that is apparent to all of us is that unmanned aerial systems are a threat not just to infantry Marines, but to all Marines,” explained Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, via Defense One. 

Counter-sUAS Testing to Begin Soon

The Marine Corps did not identify which technologies for fielding, but officials shared that the prototype platforms will enable warfighters to detect, track, identify and defeat enemy drones through kinetic and non-kinetic effects. 

“These systems will be lightweight, easy-to-use, easy-to-train, military occupational specialty-agnostic, and, to the maximum extent possible, use weapon systems organic to individual units,” Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesperson for Combat Development and Integration, told Task & Purpose. 

A service official also said the Marine Expeditionary Units and Marine Littoral Regiments will be first to test out the C-sUAS platforms in the coming weeks.

The Government Accountability Office has called on the Department of Defense to establish a comprehensive framework for its Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control warfighting concept. In its new report published Tuesday, the congressional watchdog warned that, without establishing measurable goals and methods to assess progress, efforts to achieve CJADC2 will be slow and inefficient.

Potential CJADC2 Challenges

The CJADC2 concept is designed to coordinate U.S. and partner assets across space, air, land, sea and cyber domains. It is expected to enhance command and control and enable decision-makers to access and share critical data.

GAO pointed out that DOD previously attempted to guide CJADC2 efforts, but has yet to come up with a framework to guide investments.

According to the watchdog, DOD is also not sharing lessons learned from experiments among relevant parties, which could lead to duplicative efforts and may also slow down progress. GAO noted that the Pentagon’s over-classification of data is hindering data-sharing.

Moreover, the Defense Department does not have an entity working on the challenges identified in the report. CJADC2 leaders told GAO that the aforementioned issues are “beyond their purview.” 

How to Improve CJADC2?

The report provides three recommendations to DOD. 

First, GAO tasked the secretary of defense to develop a framework for CJADC2 that would guide investments and measure progress. The second recommendation calls for a mechanism for sharing CJADC2 lessons learned. Finally, the report encourages DOD to identify and address key challenges keeping the department from achieving its CJADC2 goals.