Dzirhan Mahadzir

The U.S. Marine Corps established a new organization last month to integrate aerial drone capabilities as the service continues to experiment with drones in field operations. The service established the Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group (MCRIG), a service-level organization responsible for integrating, standardizing and institutionalizing training for Group 1 and Group 2 small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-small unmanned aircraft systems across the Total Force, according to a July MARADMIN. The Pentagon categorises unmanned aircraft systems into five progressive groups based on attributes such as maximum gross takeoff weight, operating altitude and speed. “The establishment of MCRIG reflects the

The U.S. Marine Corps established a new organization last month to integrate aerial drone capabilities as the service continues to experiment with drones in field operations

Marines are learning how to 3D print raiding craft and attack drones while in theater as part of recent exercises in Hawaii, Japan and South Korea. During Exercise Valiant Shield, U.S. Marines with Intermediate Repair Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, worked with engineers from Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock on a demonstration known as Manufacturing Attritable Systems at Scale, or MASS, an initiative focused on rapidly producing low-cost maritime platforms using deployable manufacturing equipment and commercially available materials, according to a release. The exercise ran from June 22-July 1 in the Northern Marianas, Guam and Japan. The

Russian activity around the U.K. and in the North Atlantic has risen 25 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same time frame in 2025, according to the Royal Navy. The year-on-year data was included in a Saturday news release, with the Royal Navy attributing the increase to Russian Navy warships escorting sanctioned ships in the region. The data fell within Jan. 1-July 31, 2026, and was compared with Jan. 1-July 31, 2025. In the month of July alone, RN frigate HMS Somerset (F82) and offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne (P281), HMS Severn (P282) and HMS

The Trump administration is focused on delivering military capabilities to the Indo-Pacific to strengthen deterrence, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby said Thursday during his week-long tour of the region. “Everybody knows our position on those issues,” Colby said on Thursday to reporters, referring to the need to deliver military capability to the region. “They’ve been repeated many times in private and public, so we don’t feel the need to tub thump every day. We think that what is unique and different about our approach is that it focuses on results in the military domain, not only for

U.S. 3rd Fleet, multinational partners and the Missile Defense Agency wrapped up ballistic missile defense exercise Pacific Dragon 2026 on Saturday around the Hawaiian Islands. Meanwhile, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) Task Group which had earlier participated in the Rim of the Pacific 2026 will carry out an Indo-Pacific deployment from August to October, with the first activity being to monitor maritime sanctions evasion by North Korea. PD26 is a biennial, multilateral ballistic missile defense and tactical data link information-sharing exercise that follows on from RIMPAC. The purpose is to refine tactics and procedures required for regional integrated air

The Marine Corps on Friday wrapped up the inaugural Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Quantico, Va., capping a summer of drone firsts for the service. Drones also played a part in Marine Corps exercises in Korea and Australia and new counter-small unmanned aerial systems (C-sUAS) training lanes opened at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif. The activities follow the July activation of the Marine Corps Robotics Integration Group (MCRIG), a service-level organization responsible for integrating, standardizing and institutionalizing training for Group 1 and Group 2 sUAS and C-sUAS A Marine Corps release

The United States, Iceland and NATO began the U.S-led biennial exercise Northern Viking 2026 (NV26) on Tuesday, which runs in Iceland and surrounding waters until Sept. 3. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Bilateral Defense Agreement between Iceland and the United States. A U.S 6th Fleet release stated that the exercise is designed to strengthen interoperability and force readiness between the United States, Iceland, and other allied nations. It strengthens multi-domain command and control of joint and coalition forces to defend Iceland and safeguard the sea lines between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, known as the

The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory recently accepted the first of two Ancillary Surface Craft prototypes, according to a news release published last week. Ancillary Surface Craft are designed to provide transportation of personnel and supplies to shallow-gradient, unimproved and unsurveyed shorelines. The craft are meant to be able to conduct oceanic transits on its own in contrast to existing platforms like the Landing Craft Air Cushion, which has to be embarked on an amphibious ship. The ASC, once in service, will enable the Marine Corps to move small units armed with anti-ship missiles around the islands of the Pacific as

U.S., Norwegian and U.K. forces deployed Wednesday to Jan Mayen, a strategic island in the Norwegian Sea for a NATO Arctic Sentry enhanced Vigilance Activity. The trilateral operation is meant to strengthen NATO’s ability to operate jointly in challenging Arctic conditions and will integrate multinational sensors, command-and-control nodes and precision fires into a joint kill web in support of NATO and U.S. Homeland defense, according to a U.S. Marine Corps release. “By operating alongside our allies, we demonstrate that we have both the capability and the will to defend Norwegian territory,” Norwegian Vice Adm. Rune Andersen, Commander of the Norwegian