Marines Test Upgraded L-MADIS Against Growing Drone Threat at Sea
Aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, Marines recently trained for a threat that never appeared.
During an August exercise off the California coast, a team from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit monitored the sky from two compact tactical vehicles secured to the ship’s deck. Together, the vehicles form the Light Marine Air-Defense Integrated System, better known as L-MADIS.
The system’s mission was straightforward: detect, track and help defeat any hostile drone approaching the ship.
No drone entered the area during the exercise, but the training gave Marines an opportunity to practice operating a system that is becoming increasingly important on modern battlefields.
L-MADIS uses two vehicles that perform separate but connected functions.
The first serves as a command-and-control platform. Its radar, optical equipment and radio-frequency sensors search the surrounding area for small unmanned aircraft. One of those sensors, known as SkyView, can listen for drone signals without transmitting, allowing Marines to search for threats while reducing the electronic signature that could reveal their position.
When the system detects a drone, it can compare the aircraft with a military database of drones known to operate in the region. If a match is found, L-MADIS creates a track containing information such as the drone’s type, direction, distance and operating frequency.
The second vehicle carries electronic-warfare equipment designed to disrupt the radio connection between the drone and its operator. Marines can tune the jammer to the drone’s frequency and flood that frequency with interference.
Cutting the control link produces what Marines describe as a “near-kill.” Depending on its programming, the affected drone may crash, hover in place or automatically return to its operator.
Each outcome can create another opportunity to defeat the threat. A hovering drone may become an easy target for a Marine armed with a rifle and specialized anti-drone ammunition. A drone returning to its controller could potentially expose the enemy’s position.
The Marines aboard the Makin Island were using an upgraded L-MADIS package received approximately two months before the exercise.
According to 1st Lt. Adelaide Ortiz, a low-altitude air-defense officer overseeing Marines assigned to the system, the newer package replaces the previous version with lighter, more mobile vehicles and updated sensors and jamming equipment.
Marine air-defense gunners operate the cameras, electronic jammer and weapons, while systems technicians keep the equipment connected, secure and linked with commanders aboard the ship.
L-MADIS is primarily intended to counter small drones by breaking their connection with their operators. Marines can also employ other weapons, including Stinger missiles, against larger unmanned aircraft, helicopters and low-flying aircraft.
Small, inexpensive drones have transformed warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East. They are now routinely used for surveillance, targeting and one-way attacks against troops, vehicles and defensive positions.
The Marine Corps is working to place more counter-drone equipment in the hands of units at the squad, platoon and company levels. Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron, the deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, recently described protection against one-way attack drones as one of the Corps’ most significant capability gaps.
Systems such as L-MADIS are intended to close part of that gap by giving a small Marine team the ability to detect and disrupt an enemy drone before it moves close enough to strike.
“All these systems on this vehicle aid the operator in finding drones before they get too close to you to kill you,” L-MADIS operator Cpl. Julian Moore said.
Although the system combines radar, optics, electronic warfare and sophisticated tracking equipment, Moore said L-MADIS is surprisingly intuitive to operate.
He also cautioned that advanced technology cannot replace well-trained Marines.
“You’re only as lethal as the operators that you have sitting in it,” Moore said. Equipment that appears capable of solving a battlefield problem remains useful only when operated by someone who understands it.
For the Marines aboard the Makin Island, continued training is therefore as important as the upgraded equipment itself.
“The better and the more training we get, and the more expertise we get in the seats operating the vehicle,” Moore said, “is what’s going to lead to us being pretty badass with this thing.”