The Marines will use General Atomics’ YFQ-42A aircraft to evaluate how the service’s future loyal wingman drones will integrate with and fly alongside crewed fighter jets.
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Maxime Thouy, a Massachusetts native, infantry Marine with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, shouts orders during a company supported attack as part of Integrated Training Exercise 1-26 at Range 400, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Jan. 26, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Damian Oso)
Lt. Gen. James Adams, deputy commandant for programs and resources, said the Marine Corps is involved in six pilot programs related to AI and automation.
In this photo illustration, the OpenAI “ChatGPT” AI-generated answer to the question “What can AI offer to humanity?” is seen on a laptop screen on February 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
A U.S. Marine with III Marine Expeditionary Force familiarizes himself with maneuvering drones during the Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 7, 2025. During a two-week period, the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team trained and certified 3rd Marine Division Marines as attack drone operators, attack drone instructor, and payload specialist instructors, increasing the Division’s lethality and capacity of trained and certified attack drone operators and instructors. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joaquin Dela Torre)
A pair of Ray-Ban Meta 2nd generation smart glasses is seen on display during the Meta Connect Developer Conference at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California on September 27, 2023. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Henry David Volpe, an automotive maintenance technician with 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Combat Readiness Regiment, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, poses for a photo with the HANX drone he designed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jan. 23, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Alfonso Livrieri)
Marine Sgt. Henry David Volpe, an automotive maintenance technician with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was credited as having led…
An F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Jan. 24, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Cesar Zavala)
The jet, an F-35C Lightning II, launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was transiting the Arabian Sea roughly 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast, U.S. Central…
A poster at the Pentagon, Dec. 12, 2025, lets employees know that a new artificial intelligence tool is available to use at the War Department, and that employees are highly encouraged to use it. (Credit: C. Todd Lopez, DOW)
Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, vice commander, United States Special Operations Command prepares to test naval special warfare (NSW) dive equipment as part of a visit to Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in San Diego, Feb. 10, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charles Propert)
