The US Marines are spreading counter-drone investments across multiple budget lines, according to budget projection analysis from technology and contracting consultant Justin Nerdrum.
In a LinkedIn post, Nerdrum said there was not one obvious drone defence category, and that his analysis suggests a “roughly USD 847M split” between force protection, electronic warfare, and air defence.
According to Nerdrum, the likely breakdown based on Marine Corps priorities is:
- Mobile Force Protection Systems (~USD 312M)
- Next-Gen Electronic Attack (~USD 289M)
- Low Altitude Air Defense (~USD 246M)
Analysing the Marines’ procurement, he says the purchases make sense.
“L-MADIS upgrades with AI targeting. Current systems need multiple Marines to operate. Goal? One Marine is managing the autonomous engagement of 50+ targets simultaneously. Directed-energy weapons under 2,000 lbs for JLTVs. At $10-20 per shot versus $ 120,000+ for Stinger missiles. Ukraine taught us an economics lesson. Electronic warfare pods that jam swarms without killing friendly comms. The technical holy grail everyone’s chasing.”
Nerdrum says the practice of using small arms against drones at forward bases is not sustainable when adversaries can build 1,000 drones for the price of one missile.
“Three opportunities are emerging now: Power systems for mobile lasers, because current batteries tend to drain quickly under continuous operation; AI edge processors for target discrimination; and resilient comms that survive in jammed environments.”
For more information
Image: US Marine Corps Cpl. Brian Vile, an intelligence specialist with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 24.3, operates a Skydio drone as part of a C-UAS field test. (US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Migel A. Reynosa)
