The Marine Corps wants every infantry squad to carry its own attack drone, one small enough to fit in a rucksack but lethal enough to destroy targets roughly 15 miles away. A federal solicitation posted on SAM.gov asks defense firms to submit white papers for what the service calls the Organic Precision Fires-Medium system, or OPF-M, in a man-portable configuration. The requirement: a loitering munition that a small team can deploy on foot, fly to a target up to 25 kilometers out, and guide to impact under direct human control the entire way.
If the program advances, it would give Marines at the lowest tactical level a precision strike tool they currently lack, reducing their dependence on artillery batteries or aircraft that may be unavailable, out of range, or too slow to respond in a fast-moving fight.
What the solicitation spells out
The notice, numbered M67854-26-I-1047, was issued by Marine Corps Systems Command as a market research request, not a contract award. It establishes minimum performance thresholds that any candidate system must meet. The drone and its launcher must be light enough for Marines to carry on dismounted patrols lasting multiple days. The minimum engagement range is 25 kilometers, roughly 15 miles. And a human operator must remain in active control throughout the flight and terminal phase, meaning the weapon cannot autonomously select or engage targets.
That last requirement aligns with DoD Directive 3000.09, the Pentagon’s standing policy on autonomous weapons systems, which mandates appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force. For a squad-level weapon operating in congested coastal environments where civilians and combatants may be meters apart, real-time human oversight is not just policy. It is a tactical necessity.
Meeting all of these demands simultaneously is the core engineering challenge. A 25-kilometer range requires enough battery life and propulsion efficiency to loiter and then sprint to a target. Man-in-the-loop control requires a portable ground station and a communications link robust enough to carry video and command data across that full distance, even when adversaries are jamming the electromagnetic spectrum. And the entire package, including the drone, launcher, control station, and spare munitions, must be light enough that a squad can still carry water, ammunition, and everything else it needs to survive.
A vehicle-mounted cousin already under contract
The man-portable solicitation is not the Marine Corps’ first move into loitering munitions under the OPF-M banner. In October 2021, the service awarded a contract to Mistral Inc. to produce a vehicle-mounted OPF-M system, according to a company announcement at the time. That variant is designed for integration on Light Armored Vehicles, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, and Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessels. The munition identified in the announcement is from the HERO family, a line of tube-launched loitering drones built by the Israeli firm UVision.
Vehicle-mounted systems operate under fundamentally different constraints than man-portable ones. A JLTV or LAV can carry heavier launchers, larger warheads, more sophisticated sensors, and multiple launch tubes, giving a platoon the ability to put several drones in the air at once. A Marine on foot may only be able to carry one or two munitions alongside the rest of a combat load.
It is worth noting that the Mistral contract has not been independently confirmed through a Federal Procurement Data System record or a separate Defense Department announcement. The details in the company’s press release, including the named platforms and munition family, are specific and credible, but outside observers have limited visibility into the contract’s dollar value, delivery timeline, or current status nearly four years after the initial award.
Why the timing matters
The push to put loitering munitions in the hands of individual squads reflects lessons that have been accumulating since 2022, when the war in Ukraine demonstrated how small, inexpensive drones could destroy armored vehicles, disable artillery positions, and reshape the front lines of a conventional conflict. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have used commercial and military drones as de facto precision munitions at ranges and costs that traditional weapons cannot match.
The Marine Corps is not alone in drawing these conclusions. The U.S. Army has fielded the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 as a squad-level loitering munition and has tested the larger Switchblade 600 for anti-armor missions. But the Switchblade 300’s range, roughly 10 kilometers, falls short of the 25-kilometer threshold the Marines are now demanding. That gap suggests the Corps wants something with greater reach, potentially bridging the space between a squad-carried drone and a vehicle-launched missile.
The solicitation also arrives as the Marine Corps continues its broader Force Design transformation, which has reorganized infantry battalions, divested tanks, and invested heavily in long-range fires and distributed operations across the Pacific. In that concept, small units operating on remote islands or coastlines need organic firepower because centralized support may be unavailable or too slow. A 15-mile attack drone in a rucksack fits that vision precisely.
Open questions for the program
Several significant unknowns remain. The SAM.gov notice does not disclose a budget ceiling, a timeline for prototype evaluation, or how many systems the Corps ultimately wants to buy. Without those figures, it is difficult to judge whether the man-portable OPF-M is headed for rapid fielding or a longer developmental cycle.
The relationship between the man-portable and vehicle-mounted variants is also unclear. Both carry the OPF-M label, suggesting a family-of-systems approach, but no official statement has explained whether they will share components such as datalinks, software, or training pipelines. If the two variants use different munitions from different vendors, the logistics burden on Marine units could grow. If they share a common munition, the engineering compromises required to make one drone work from both a rucksack and a vehicle launcher could limit performance in either role.
Then there is the competitive landscape. AeroVironment, UVision, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, and a growing roster of smaller firms all produce loitering munitions in various weight classes. The white-paper format of the solicitation means the Marine Corps is casting a wide net, and the eventual winner, if the program moves to a formal competition, may not be a name that dominates today’s market. Firms with lightweight, tube-launched designs that can meet the 25-kilometer range in a sub-10-pound package will have the clearest path forward.
What this signals for squad-level precision fires
For Marines on the ground, the practical implication is straightforward: organic precision fires are moving closer to the squad. If both OPF-M tracks mature, a future infantry company could maneuver with loitering munitions on its vehicles and in its packs, able to find and strike targets at distances that currently require a radio call to a fire support coordinator and a wait for shells or aircraft.
That does not eliminate the need for artillery or close air support. A loitering munition with a small warhead cannot substitute for a 155mm howitzer round against a hardened position or a bunker. But for soft targets, moving vehicles, crew-served weapons, or enemy drone operators, a squad-carried precision strike drone could be the fastest and most responsive tool available, especially in the dispersed, communications-degraded environments the Marine Corps expects to fight in across the Western Pacific.
The vendors, timelines, and final specifications are still to be determined. But the direction is unmistakable: the Corps is building toward a force where the smallest units carry their own guided weapons, and the 15-mile attack drone is the next step in that progression.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
