The Marine Corps has broadly rolled out FPV attack drones
The Corps reportedly fielded more than 3,500 FPV attack drones by May, while official releases show the Neros Archer in training or use across infantry, reconnaissance, and littoral formations. The public record supports a broad rollout, though not a complete unit-by-unit tally.
In December 2025, the Marine Corps set a May 2026 target for infantry battalions, reconnaissance battalions, and littoral combat teams to be equipped to use first-person-view (FPV) attack drones. The plan established six initial courses and eight certifications, delivered through seven organizations, with Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico responsible for common curricula, certification standards, and safety rules.
Public evidence now suggests that the rollout was largely achieved, or at least well advanced, by the deadline. On 1 May, Marine Corps Times reported that the service had fielded more than 3,500 FPV attack drones, quoting the commanding officer of Weapons Training Battalion. Later that month, an official Marine Corps release described the Neros Archer as the most common FPV system in Marine Corps infantry.
Official releases through May and June show the Neros Archer in training or use across all three formation types named in the original target: infantry, reconnaissance, and littoral combat. The examples run from an FPV drone course with a deployed Marine Expeditionary Unit in early May to live-fire attack-drone training in the Philippines in mid-June. The individual releases are listed in the sources below.
Together, these sources support a broad rollout across infantry, reconnaissance, and littoral combat formations. They do not provide a complete unit-by-unit list, so they cannot verify that every formation met the May target. The remaining question is the degree of completion, not whether the rollout moved beyond a pilot programme.