Over the past several years, the Corps has been rapidly testing and acquiring systems to take on air threats — a problem that last existed for the Marines during the Cold War.
Systems now in the Corps’ air defense arsenal include the Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar, which can detect cruise missiles, air threats, and a host of other incoming projectiles.
And the Corps is still developing a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or Humvee mounted air defense system that can use a range of capabilities from stinger missiles, electronic attack, or directed energy to blast drones out of the sky.
On Thursday, during a hearing at the House Armed Service Committee, Marine leaders told lawmakers that they were also looking at drones that can kill other drones to bolster the Corps’ air defense capabilities.
Lt. Gen. Steven R. Rudder, the Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Aviation, told lawmakers that the miniaturization of tech was helping provide capabilities like “precision-guided munitions that can be launched and hover and loiter at great distances” to “small UASs [unmanned aircraft system] that can counter other UAS”s that we can certainly launch from a manportable system.”