The Marine Corps is establishing a fresh organization to swiftly convert real-world drone lessons into standardized training for troops throughout the service. These lessons cover effective ways to counter enemy drones as well as using unmanned systems for surveillance and strikes.

With drone warfare advancing rapidly and altering combat zones, the new Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group will act as the central point for embedding instruction on small drones and counter-drone tools service-wide, per a release from the Training and Education Command.

Alongside this step, the Corps is also standing up its Marine Corps Counter Drone Team. This unit will evaluate new counter-drone technologies and methods, serving as the defensive counterpart to the offensive drone team launched last year.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, head of Training and Education Command, earlier described plans for the counter-drone team. He noted the goal to accelerate learning and assign a focused team of experts to match the pace already achieved in drone operations.

The two new teams are intended to shorten the path from testing within specialized drone groups to widespread training in operational units ahead of deployments.

At the service annual symposium, Maj. Gen. Mark Clingan discussed results from a recent drill involving Marines and drones. He observed that outcomes aligned with expectations and that troops struggled when operating downrange amid drone threats.

The Marines continue to determine which personnel excel as drone operators, standardize instruction paths, distinguish friendly from hostile systems, and develop ways to neutralize drones while moving.

These initiatives reflect ongoing military efforts to address both the advantages and risks of widespread drone use, especially small low-cost uncrewed aerial systems, drawing from recent fights in Ukraine and the Middle East. Offensive employment remains complex, as does creating reliable large-scale defenses against adversary drones.

Clingan stated that the battlefield shows small unmanned aircraft systems have moved beyond niche roles. Even handheld drones now play essential parts in reconnaissance and attack missions.