The U.S. Marine Corps has launched the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team (MCADT), a new unit aimed at rapidly integrating armed first-person view (FPV) drones into frontline operations.
The team was officially stood up on January 3, 2025, at Marine Corps Base Quantico in response to the proliferation of affordable, battlefield-ready drones seen in modern conflicts, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Backed by Training Command and the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, the MCADT is tasked with pioneering drone tactics and technologies to enhance the small-unit lethality of the Fleet Marine Force (FMF). Maj. Alejandro Tavizon, who leads the team, described the unit as a direct response to emerging threats: “MCADT is committed to rapidly integrating armed FPV drones into the FMF… ensuring that Marines remain agile, adaptive, and lethal in the modern battlespace.”
Drawing on over a century of marksmanship expertise from the Marine Corps Shooting Team, the MCADT will develop and refine drone tactics through real-world training and inter-service competitions. The team’s integration at Quantico allows it to leverage the capabilities of the Precision Weapons Section and Weapons Training Battalion.
MCADT’s goals include:
- Developing force-wide FPV drone training programs;
- Advising on service-level requirements for rapid procurement of emerging drone tech;
- Competing in national and international drone combat events to refine operational tactics.
The team’s first test will come at the U.S. National Drone Association’s Military Drone Crucible Championship in Florida (30 June–3 July 2025), where they will compete alongside elite units like the 75th Ranger Regiment. The competition will include full-spectrum tactical missions with AI-enabled flight controls and multiple drone platforms.
According to Tavizon, the stakes go beyond competition: “Today’s battlefield is changing rapidly, and we must adapt just as quickly.” FPV drones offer cost-effective battlefield reach—up to 20 km for under $5,000—providing small units with scalable firepower that was previously unattainable.
Looking ahead, MCADT plans to incorporate drone events into the Marine Corps’ broader marksmanship competition framework and will host a national-level championship at Quantico in 2026. These efforts, says Tavizon, will “rapidly build proficiency,” giving Marines not just tools but the operational edge needed to prevail in complex, tech-driven combat environments.
In its first few months, the team has already begun integrating a range of drone systems, supported by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. The establishment of MCADT marks a decisive step forward in modernising Marine Corps capabilities to meet evolving threats with flexibility, affordability, and precision.
Stand by for a Hollywood blockbuster .
Please in the interests of being a serious online Defence news site, stop calling them drones, it doesn’t matter what the initial news source calls them, they are UAV’s or UAS’s or in this case FPV. I have had the last 2 year’s with the grumblings of Military operaters consistently telling me they are sick to death of the word drone. A drone according to them is an preprogrammed aerial vehicle that goes from point A to point B and maybe back again with very minimal human input.