Marines concluded the inaugural Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on August 11, 2026, after a week of training that included strike planning, intelligence integration and long‑range drone operations. The competition followed the July activation of the Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group, which oversees training for Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aircraft systems and counter‑sUAS measures, and built on earlier drone deployments in Korea and Australia. Teams from 3rd Littoral Combat Team and 4th Marine Division executed strike planning and execution, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance integration, urban and night operations, long‑range strikes and moving‑target engagement, synchronizing multiple attack drones against separate targets. An opposing force tracked the teams, requiring competitors to manage their signatures and respond to threats while completing missions. “Being on the receiving end of the weapon system we’re trained to employ was humbling, to say the least,” said Lance Cpl. Georgino Perez, an infantryman with 3rd Littoral Combat Team and first‑person view drone pilot. “It highlighted the need for more training, not only on how to employ these systems, but how to survive against them.” FPV operators from 4th Marine Division won the competition. “The experience gained at the championship is important to the Marine Corps’ train‑the‑trainer model,” said Col. Charles E. Anklam III, commanding officer of Weapons Training Battalion. Future iterations are expected to add a dedicated opposing force, electronic warfare effects and engagement distances up to 20 km. The Neros Archer first‑person view drones, contracted in November 2025, have been used in exercises in South Korea and Australia, including live‑fire FPV flights during Korean Marine Exercise Program 26.2. In Australia, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin employed a TRV-150 tactical resupply unmanned aircraft system to transport simulated blood and launched Neros Archer drones for simulated attacks on armored vehicles. The Marine Corps also launched its first C‑sUAS training lanes on July 15 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, with units from 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions practicing denial, detection and defeat of enemy sUAS using M27 rifles, M1014 shotguns, M32A1 and M320 grenade launchers and electronic warfare. Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Jares, an instructor with Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group, said the sUAS threat is prolific and that the squad’s organic weapons are being evaluated for combatting it. Participants in a three‑week sUAS operator course qualified to operate the systems and will continue to integrate C‑sUAS into future Service Level Training Exercises. The Marine Corps said the competition and training will inform the development of more capable attack drone teams across the Fleet.