“We need . . . these capabilities and we need them now, not 10 years from now!”
—Former Marine Corps Commandant General Robert Neller
The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard increasingly depend on unmanned aerial systems for a variety of tasks. Dozens of platforms are already in the fleet or in development, for missions ranging from aerial-refueling to strike to reconnaissance. Here are just a few to consider.
Coast Guard ScanEagle
The Coast Guard plans to allocate 3 MQ-27 ScanEagle UAVs to each of the 11 national security cutters for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), search-and-rescue, and maritime interdiction missions.
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