Sean Harper
Over the past few years, loitering munitions have moved from the margins of conflict to the center of modern warfare. Anyone watching the evening news has seen them disrupt armored columns, deny key terrain, and redefine what it means to shape the battlespace—all at the tactical edge. With the upcoming delivery of Organic Precision Fires, the Marine Corps is joining the trend.
Integrating loitering munitions into the Marine Corps is not just about buying the right drone or writing the right CONOPS. It’s about rethinking how we generate combat power, organize for distributed operations, and equip Marines who fight in every clime and place.
The Corps faces several critical questions:
Should every squad carry a loitering munition? How many?
Who controls fires from above—platoon or battalion?
How do we sustain these systems forward, in a fight, with contested logistics?
And how do we ensure that loitering munitions enable the rifleman in the chaos of combat instead of distracting him?
These are not just immediate tactical questions. They’re larger questions of doctrine, force design, and leadership.
This article proposes ten core principles developed through experimentation, analysis, and operational feedback. These tenets are meant to guide discussion on how the Marine Corps develops, employs, and adapts loitering munitions to its operations. Some will challenge traditional assumptions. Others will reinforce enduring truths. Together, they offer a vision for integrating this capability not as a bolt-on novelty, but as a core component of 21st-century Marine Corps warfighting.
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