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12 May 2022

Goodbye Tanks, Hello Drones: How the Marine Corps Will Fight Beyond 2030

Kris Osborn

The United States Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 strategy outlines the service’s need for a lighter, smaller, faster, yet better networked and more lethal sea-land attack force, a shift which is leading the service to divest its tanks, decrease its infantry, and increase its reconnaissance and mobile anti-armor weapons and reduce the size of its aviation component. The document calls for the Corps to divest three of its heavy-lift helicopter squadrons, two light attack helicopter squadrons, and three medium tiltrotor squadrons. By contrast, it calls for a decided increase in unmanned systems for the force by operating six active component drone squadrons.

The transition reveals a clear Marine Corps shift toward the use of air and surface drones to decrease risk by reducing manned platforms and increasing the range and capacity for multi-domain networking.

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