Drone killing Marines: Corps seeks ‘buckshot-like’ counter-drone gear

The Marines are looking for weapons-mounted gear and ammo that can detect and blast drones out of the sky with “buckshot-like” capability.

Marine Corps Systems Command posted a request for information from industry on July 15 seeking white papers on how developers would provide sensing, detection, defensive and offensive ways to counter drone threats at the Marine squad and platoon-level.

A Marine squad is one of the service’s smallest units of action and contains between 13 and 15 Marines depending on manning. A traditional Marine Corps platoon holds up to three squads.

In February, the Corps began the search for counter drone tech to defend installations, according to a service solicitation. That equipment would also allow operators to jam drones and capture them without destroying them.

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Industry submissions are expected by August 2 and those selected for consideration may get an invite to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California for a September live fire demonstration, according to the solicitation.

The service has been using the Light Marine Air-Defense Integrated System, or L-MADIS, which uses two all-terrain vehicles that combine jamming technology and traditional firepower, such as Stinger missiles, to take out drones.

But both of those solutions are for larger threats and must be either vehicle-mounted or stationary.

The squad and platoon-level Marines need to carry their own devices to detect, defeat and destroy group 1 and 2 drones. Group 1 drones weigh up to 20 pounds and fly under 1,200 feet.

Group 2 drones weigh between 21 and 55 pounds and can fly as high as 3,500 feet.

The new capability that the Corps wants would include detecting and tracking gear that uses acoustic or radio frequency detection, according to the solicitation. Those sensors would be worn by individual Marines and could have a handheld tablet, bracelet, earpiece or glasses “that receives alerts, warnings, notifications from an external sensor.”

The same capability at the platoon level could be vehicle, mast or tripod mounted, according to the solicitation.

On the offensive side of the counter-drone tech, the Marines want this individual piece of equipment to have either directional radio frequency or global positioning system jammers that can mount to a rifle.

But to destroy the threat at both the squad and platoon level, they’re looking for a rifle and rifle optic combination that can track the drone and use “enhanced ammunition” for weapons already in their inventory, to include “buckshot-like” 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50 caliber and 40mm grenade launchers.

Weapons that use those ammunition configurations include the M72 Infantry Automatic Rifle, the M240 machine gun, the M2 machine gun and the M320 and M32 grenade launcher and Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher.