A US marine aims a ZeroMark fire-control system attached to an M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle during a live-fire demonstration at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. (US Marine Corps)
After industry demonstrations at Twentynine Palms, California, the US Marine Corps is evaluating counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) solutions from 17 companies through an urgent needs process and for an eventual programme of record, an official with the Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) programme office told Janes in an interview on 5 November.
The selected system is anticipated to be in the hands of marines by at least the end of boreal summer 2025 but it could be as soon as a couple of months, Major Jason Dempsey, C-UAS and GBAD capabilities integration officer, told Janes. The GBAD programme office plans to have firmed up the requirements document for the programme of record at some point in 2025, he said.
A request for information released in July 2024 led to more than 60 companies submitting technology for the industry day. From that pool, 17 technologies, which ranged from enhanced optics to artificial intelligence-guided fire controls, were selected.
Some were kinetic-based solutions but most were non-kinetic detect, track, and identify solutions like jamming systems. Because an interim solution is needed quickly, marines took notice of some companies that had 50–100 systems already on the shelf, Maj Dempsey noted.
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