Marine Corps Breaks Through with Drone-Helicopter Attack Networking

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Should amphibious attack vessels be closing in quickly on an enemy shoreline, they would certainly need specifics on minefield threats and enemy fortifications on land quickly to avoid lethals collisions en route. Much of this hinges upon pure speed when it comes to information sharing and threat detail transmission, so a fast-approaching amphibious attack could elude or destroy mine-fields and other enemy obstacles while closing in for a beach landing.

It is perhaps with these kinds of maritime warfare dynamics in mind that the Marine Corps is quickly making strides accelerating air attack tactics by strengthening real-time networking and target-data transmission between attack helicopters and Fire Scout drones. This development offers commanders new options for maritime operations by shortening the critical sensor-to-shooter time loop and getting target detail to human decision makers on a much faster timeline to exact effective and timely responses, defenses and counterattacks.

Fire Scout Drone

In a recent exercise, the Corps linked UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper helicopters with sensor data coming from the Navy’s Fire Scout drone. The connectivity took place at the Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, and succeeded in conducted attacks while
“Marines and sailors operating in the ground control station assisted with the target detection and strike coordinate utilizing a MQ-8C Fire Scout,” according to a Corps statement. 

It makes sense that the Corps would be taking new steps with manned-unmanned teaming given the speed of technological progress in the realm of autonomy, networking and information processing. Extending this thinking, it also make sense that the Corps would look at the Fire Scout given the series of impactful upgrades and modernization efforts unique to the Fire Scout.

For several years now, the Fire Scout has been operating with a critical coastal mine detection system likely to be of critical significance to Marine Corps amphibious landings. Called COBRA, for Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis, the integrated sensor system was specifically engineered to help find and identify mines and other threats in littoral and coastal environments, an operational task which greatly improves the prospect of a successful amphibious assault. Interestingly, a Navy report as far back as 2017 describes the unique value added emerging from integrating COBRA into the Fire Scout.

“Previously, such reconnaissance was only possible by putting Sailors or Marines on the beach in advance of a landing, exposing them to casualties and revealing an intended landing zone,” the story writes.

“COBRA represents a real step forward for tactical reconnaissance of beach areas,” said Melissa Kirkendall, mine warfare programs. “With COBRA, the Navy/Marine Corps team can quickly look at a possible landing zone and detect mines and obstacles that would inhibit landing force mobility during an assault.”