Army and Marines embrace kamikaze drones for ground combat
Airpower
By Hope Seck
May 29, 2025
Loitering munitions, or kamikaze drones, have become a key weapon in modern warfare. Both Russia and Ukraine employ them, using both military-grade versions and the much cheaper first-person view (FPV) commercial options costing as little as a few hundred dollars.
And while the U.S. ground services have long sounded a call for counter-drone weapons to protect forces, equipment, and installations, they are now moving to acquire offensive drones that infantry troops can wield.
The purpose and design of kamikaze drones is contained in the name: they’re intended for one-way trips, built at a scale and efficiency that permits their single-use function. Also known as loitering munitions, they can hover on station or in a set area until a target is designated. Then, they crash into that target, taking it out and destroying themselves in the process, just like the Japanese suicide fighters of World War II.
The Marine Corps was the first to go on drone offensive earlier this year, announcing the formation of its Attack Drone Team, a nine-Marine crew tasked with figuring out how to integrate first-person view weaponized drones into infantry formations. Yet, when the team was announced at the end of March, few specifics about the kinds of drones the Corps would acquire for this effort were released.
https://www.sandboxx.us/news/army-and-marines-embrace-kamikaze-drones-for-ground-combat/
