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A U.S. Marine Corps rifleman with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit observes a Neros Archer first-person view drone during attack drone training on Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, Nov. 22, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration)

Marine Corps wants 10,000 new drones this year as it looks to expand training for off-the-shelf systems

Over the next several months, the service will aim to certify hundreds of Marines to use FPV drones, according to the Pentagon, with the goal of having…
A U.S. Marine Corps mortarman with Kilo Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, flies a SkyDio X10 small unmanned aircraft system during attack drone training on Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, Nov. 22, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo).

In a sign of more to come, the Corps certified forward-deployed Marines on FPV drones for the first time

The exercise in the Caribbean marked the first time that forward-deployed Marines were certified on the use of first-person-view drones, officials said, an important milestone for the…
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Riley Coggins, 482nd Attack Squadron MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft sensor operator, practices in an MQ-9 Reaper simulator at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Feb. 10, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Victoria Nuzzi)

Annual defense policy bill calls for psychological study on drone operators, analysts

The study would assess the prevalence of post traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, moral injury and other mental health conditions among drone operators and analysts.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (C) inspects reservists operating a Hummer 2 Drone during a training session at Loung Te Industrial Parks Service Center, in Yilan County on December 2, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)

NDAA pushes Pentagon to establish joint drone and counter-drone program with Taiwan

The conference version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Pentagon to try to set up a new joint program with Taiwanese officials.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

MDA taps over 1,000 vendors for Golden Dome contract opportunities

The vendors were tapped as part of the first phase of MDA’s contracting vehicle known as the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD).
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The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mahan (DDG 72), left, and USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) sail in formation as an F/A-18 Super Hornet, assigned to Carrier Air Wing Eight embarked aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), descends on final approach to land on the aircraft carrier, Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Triniti Lersch)

Hegseth announces Operation Southern Spear after 20th US strike against alleged ‘narco-terrorists’

Pete Hegseth unveiled a large-scale military and surveillance operation in the Southcom AOR that will commence later this month.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 87 lands on the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), after an in-flight change of command in which Cmdr. Brandon Rogers relieved Cmdr. John Schnepper, Nov. 5, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tajh Payne)

US surges naval airpower to Southcom with arrival of USS Gerald R. Ford, 9 embarked squadrons

America's newest and biggest aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford — has entered the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility amid heightened tensions in Latin…
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Shay Burnett, an instructor with Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry – East, and a native of Texas, controls a Neros Archer small unmanned aircraft system during a kinetic first-person view drone range on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 12, 2025. The range was conducted to validate a scalable, repeatable methodology for enabling FPV strike operations and used as a reference to support cost-effective training and eventual kinetic employment. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Zachariah Ferraro)

SOCOM solicits industry to train commandos to build and fly FPV drones

The chosen contractor is expected to provide a 10-day course of instruction on assembling and operating First Person View small UAS.
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