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QUANTICO, Virginia \u2014 By the end of 2017, the commandant of the Marine Corps wants every Marine grunt\u00a0squad downrange to carry an unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance and surveillance.<\/p>\nEl comandante de la Infanter\u00eda de Marina de los EEUU\u00a0quiere que a finales de 2017\u00a0 cada escuadron de marines\u00a0 posea\u00a0\u00a0un veh\u00edculo a\u00e9reo no tripulado de reconocimiento y vigilancia. EL\u00a0General Robert Neller describi\u00f3 a los marines un nuevo mundo de amenazas de gama alta, nuevas tecnolog\u00edas y un entorno operativo cada vez m\u00e1s complejo \u00a0 en la exposici\u00f3n Modern Day de la Marina.\u00a0“Al final del pr\u00f3ximo a\u00f1o, mi objetivo es que cada patrulla de infanter\u00eda de Marina sea\u00a0desplegada con su\u00a0\u00a0propio quadricopter”…<\/p>\n
QUANTICO, Virginia \u2014 By the end of 2017, the commandant of the Marine Corps wants every Marine grunt\u00a0squad downrange to carry an unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance and surveillance.<\/p>\n
Gen. Robert Neller described to Marines a brave new world of high-end threats, new technologies and an increasingly complex operating environment as he unveiled the new Marine Corps Operating Concept here at the Modern Day Marine expo.<\/p>\n
The document describes future fights in littoral mega-cities<\/a>, a battle of electromagnetic signatures, and an operating environment in which drones and unmanned systems shoulder more of the load.<\/p>\n \u201cAs machines advance from performing repetitive tasks to dynamic workloads, it will free people to focus on the things they do uniquely or best,\u201d the concept document states. \u201cThe challenge, as machines become more capable and autonomous, is how to put people and things together in the most effective pairings for the mission at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n And to put teeth to the vision, Neller laid out a timeline to incorporate at least one technology.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of next year, my goal is that every deployed Marine infantry squad had got their own quadcopter,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re like 1,000 bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n Neller said he wasn\u2019t advocating for a particular manufacturer and suggested this relatively cheap piece of gear would be strategically fielded outside the normal supply chain. Since commercially available quadcopter drones are being constantly upgraded, he said, a more selective process made sense.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be kind of silly, I think to field the whole Marine Corps at one time, because in six months there\u2019s going to be something better to buy hopefully cheaper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Neller has talked about putting inexpensive drones in infantry units to enhance situational awareness. In August, he told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. that he was interested in creating an assistant squad leader position<\/a>\u00a0with a primary focus on operating the unit\u2019s UAVs.<\/p>\n The assistant squad leader concept and the idea of equipping small units with drones were both tested out in the recent\u00a0Marine Air Ground Task Force Integrated Experiment 2016, held at Twentynine Palms, California in August. The exercise proved the operational value of these concepts, senior officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n It remains unclear how a quadcopter manufacturer will be selected, or whether units will procure the systems individually.<\/p>\n