Marines to Give Anti-Tank Missilemen Attack Drones for Precision Strikes

US Marine Corps anti-tank missilemen, traditionally focused on destroying armored vehicles with Javelin and TOW missiles, are set to get one-way attack drones. The Corps plans to field its Organic Precision Fires-Light system in January, giving lower-level units loitering munitions that can locate and strike targets beyond the reach of traditional missiles.

The move adds a precision-strike role while keeping the missileman job title intact. The Corps is describing Marines taking on the added mission as “precision strike Marines.”

The fielding is part of the Marine Corps’ broader redesign for large-scale combat in the Pacific and for battlefields shaped by drones and disrupted communications. The Corps has already shed tanks and some heavy equipment, built new units focused on coastal warfare, and prepared to disperse Marines across remote islands and coastal areas inside an adversary’s weapons range.

For small Marine units, loitering munitions can provide precision strikes that previously would have required support from aircraft or artillery. Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron said the goal is to bring precision-strike capabilities down to the lowest level and use advanced technology to enhance Marines’ lethality.

The same technology creating new offensive options is also creating a defensive challenge. The US military is still looking for reliable ways to defeat drones at scale, even as the Marine Corps begins fielding systems meant to help small units detect and destroy individual threats.

The service has already fielded the first 80 sets of an organic system for countering small drones, with 300 more planned this year. That equipment includes drone detection, electronic-warfare systems, and ammunition Marines can fire from standard-issue rifles at drone targets.

Adding new drone and counter-drone equipment means more training for already busy units. Bargeron described “task saturation” — giving troops more responsibilities and increasing cognitive load — as a complicating factor.

A new three-day counter-drone course is in development for rifle squads at the Marine Corps’ major combat training center in Twentynine Palms, California. The work builds on offensive and defensive attack drone teams that are helping shape Marine drone tactics.