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Major Jason Dempsey, US Marine Corps

US Major calls for lightweight drone interceptor to protect Marines

Major Jason Dempsey, Counter-UAS and GBAD Capabilities Integration Officer for the US Marine Corps, highlighted the urgent need for portable counter-UAS systems during his presentation at the Counter-UAS Technology USA conference.

Maj. Dempsey provided an overview of the Marine Corps’ current capabilities and the critical gaps that remain.

Maj. Dempsey emphasized the evolving threat posed by small unmanned systems in modern warfare:

“We know the threat. The threat has evolved. We have seen that the threat is dropping bombs into a tank’s hell hole. We have seen that troops are actually being attacked by these small, group one UAS that are a couple hundred dollars [and when equipped with] a mason jar, a grenade and a diode, you can have close air support.”

He described the Marine Corps’ efforts to address these threats, including the development of various integrated systems such as the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) and the Light MADIS, as well as fixed-site and medium-range intercept capabilities.

According to Maj. Dempsey, the LMADIS ground-based air-defense system will begin fielding in Summer 2025.

Deconflicting the airspaceThere have also been efforts underway to enhance airspace awareness and ensure that the Marines can accurately identify hostile UAS when they appear and prevent friendly UAS being mistakenly shot down. 

The intent is to implement an "amber alert" system that enables geofencing of the environment to avoid unnecessary alerts for troops on the ground. Maj. Dempsey compared the problem to that of alerts from home security systems.

"Does anyone have a home security system? I do, you start getting pinged and you start ignoring it. We can't do that. I need to be able to say this is a threat, it's in your close proximity and you need to be able to take action on it while another unit is kicking in doors on the other block. But they don't know what's happening over there, because they don't need to know, it's not within their battle space," he said.
However, Maj. Dempsey pointed to a critical need for dismounted counter-UAS solutions that are lightweight, easy to use, and effective against aerial threats without adding significant burden to Marines in the field. He noted that there is a key distinction between man-portable and dismounted systems.
"There's a big difference between man-portable and dismounted. Man-portable, after a mile, I'm probably exhausted. Dismounted, I can walk that 25 miles if the battalion requires me to."
A tiered approachThe Marine Corps is taking a tiered approach with "packages" that increase capability at each echelon. 

Maj Dempsey dived into the requirements for packages one, two and three.

Package one

Package one focuses on the individual Marine, particularly those stationed at entry control points or on short watches.

"That Marine on the deck has a phone, has a watch, and if they get indications of warnings, it will tell him where to point his weapon system if he needs to go kinetic," Maj. Dempsey explained.
The Marines are looking at RF detection systems, passive detection systems, and acoustic detection systems to provide real-time alerts. However, Maj Dempsey also stressed that they want to maximize the use of existing weapons, such as the M4 and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle.
"The last thing a Marine needs is another weapon system," he said, but added, "If you can allow me the ability to kill the bad guy and kill a drone, we'd be willing to entertain another weapon system."

Major Jason Dempsey, US Marine Corps

Package two

For package two, the focus shifts to small units requiring enhanced detection capabilities.

"You're looking at EO/IR [electro-optical/infrared] and maybe a small radar that allows them to have both an active detection system and passive detection system, as well as the RF detection system," Maj. Dempsey said.
The biggest gap, however, remains the lack of short-range interceptors. "I need the ability to kill these damn things," he said. "Whether that ties into a different radar, or whether it has its own organic ability to detect the system and kill the threat, that is on industry to help us out."
Package three

For package three, which focuses on vehicle-mounted or fixed-site capabilities, modularity is key.

"[We need] the ability to have both a fixed-site tower and a tripod capability, and be able to put it on a vehicle, [and take it] off very quickly," he explained. "[For example, if] my engineers are rebuilding a bridge, they can drive up, their vehicles already have these capabilities on the system. 

And if those trucks need to go away, they just put it on a tripod and keep going."

The need for a dismounted interceptor. 

Maj. Dempsey also highlighted the importance of equipping dismounted forces with the tools to detect, track and engage enemy drones while maintaining their operational flexibility. 

This is particularly key when considering the prevalence of jam-resistant drones such as those being deployed in Ukraine.

"We know where the threat is going," he warned. "RF detection systems are becoming more obsolete. 

If I utilize a C2 dark drone, where it's utilizing AI, ML or image recognition, I can't jam that. I need to be able to kill it, shoot it out of the sky, and that's where a short-range interceptor comes into play."

"I need Marines that have the ability to not necessarily conduct air defense, but conduct self-defense against the aerial threat. I need a short-range interceptor that I can launch like a football, for lack of better terms, and go intercept that threat. The system needs to be lightweight, easy to use, easy to train and MOS agnostic."

Major Jason Dempsey, US Marine Corps

As the Marine Corps continues to refine its requirements for these capabilities, Maj. Dempsey called on industry to provide innovative solutions.
"The program office has the flexibility, if I have a capability that has more lethality, it's smaller, lightweight and more than anything, has a higher probability of kill. They have the flexibility where I don't have to write a requirement. They just go and buy the new system." 


Author Adam Jeffs

January 8, 2025