U.S. Marines launch spy drone from warship deep in the South China Sea
By
Dylan Malyasov
Jun 21, 2026
Modified date: Jun 21, 2026
Key Points
Department of War contractors with the 11th MEU launched a V-BAT drone from USS Portland in the South China Sea on June 17, 2026.
The V-BAT MQ-35A weighs 56.5 kg, achieves over 10 hours of flight endurance, and requires a launch area as small as 6 by 6 meters.
A surveillance drone that needs no runway, no catapult, and no dedicated launch infrastructure lifted off from the deck of a U.S. Navy warship in the South China Sea on June 17, 2026, and in doing so illustrated exactly the kind of warfare that keeps Chinese military planners up at night. Marines and Department of War contractors supporting the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit prepared a V-BAT unmanned aerial system for takeoff aboard USS Portland, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship operating with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, pushing the warship’s organic eyes well beyond the horizon without displacing a single manned aircraft or burning a drop of aviation fuel from the ship’s combat reserve.
The V-BAT, officially designated the MQ-35A and built by California-based defense technology company Shield AI, is not a flashy piece of hardware by the standards of modern aviation. It weighs roughly 56.5 kilograms (124 pounds) with payload, spans a modest 3.8 meters (12.5 feet) across its wings, and launches vertically from a deck space as small as 6 meters by 6 meters (20 feet by 20 feet) using a single ducted-fan engine that drives a shrouded propeller.
What it lacks in visual drama it makes up for in persistence: the system can remain airborne for more than 10 hours on a single fuel load, loitering over a search area far longer than most rotary-wing drones, scanning the sea surface with electro-optical and infrared cameras while transmitting real-time intelligence to commanders aboard ship. A two-person team can have it in the air in under 30 minutes, requiring no specialized deck infrastructure and no dedicated launch crew beyond the operators themselves.
https://defence-blog.com/u-s-marines-launch-spy-drone-from-warship-deep-in-the-south-china-sea/
