How a Team of Marines Built the Corps' FPV Drone Training Program from a Cold Start

The Marine Corps has rapidly transformed its FPV drone capabilities, moving from a complete lack of attack drones in October to fielding over 3,500 units within months. Driven by lessons from the conflict in Ukraine and direct guidance from senior leadership, a specialized team at the Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico established a standardized, scalable training pipeline. This model emphasizes safety through rigorous tactics, techniques, and procedures, extensive simulation-based learning, and the use of existing military-grade munitions, ensuring that Marines can effectively integrate these systems into combined arms operations. By leveraging a "crawl, walk, run" methodology, the Corps has successfully decentralized execution while maintaining centralized training standards. This initiative represents a significant shift in infantry lethality, with projections indicating the deployment of 50,000 drones by early next year to enhance combat effectiveness across the force.